The Arrest Of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi And The Cover Up Game -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

The news of the arrest of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew the Director General of the federal government disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFPIC) is trending in the Nigeria media space at the present with many not surprised at the development because Nigeria is under a regime that exists on denials, intimidation and falsehood. The embattled DG of PFIPC was arrested in Osun State by the force Intelligence department’s Intelligence Response Team (FID/IRT) on Tuesday July 14, 2026. The arrest was effected following a warrant issued by Justice Mohammed Umar of the federal high court in Abuja for failure to appear in court to answer to the allegations of forgery, fraud and impersonation against him.

The arrest did not come to many as a surprise coming from a government that is always willing to suppress the truth and feed the public with propaganda and false narratives. Rather than do independent investigation into the matter, the government wants to be the prosecutor and the judge in its own case. There are many significant issues involved in the fake agency and Gbajabiamila Gate scandal that should not be ignored; requiring an independent judicial enquiry. But, it seems that the government is in a hurry to defend its erring official rather truth and justice. Why would a fake agency exist and operate for two years and have interface with high-level government functionaries and MDAs undetected? The first thing would have been for Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to Tinubu who is at the center of the whole scandal to step aside to enable a thorough investigation into the matter but the government is doing the opposite, allowing Gbajabiamila to use his position to persecute and prosecute Prince Adeyemi. And the case of the death of the alleged Gbajabiamila’s proxy, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola through whom Prince Adeyemi was said to have couriered the said N400 million bribe has been swept under the carpet. The swift demolition of the Kachi Hotel where the said witness and Gbajabiamila proxy was killed has something to say about someone trying to cover up and conceal evidence of crime. Who authorized the demolition of the hotel? Must a hotel be demolished because there is fire incidence in it?

For almost two years the said fake agency operated promoting investment activities, holding sessions with diplomats and foreign investors without any case of fraud or extortion. There was no complain whatsoever from anybody or group against the operations of the agency until Gbajabiamila came up with his disclaimer which according to Prince Adeyemi was as result of disagreement over the request by Gbajabiamila that he be given 48% of the N27.4 billion take-off grant of the alleged fictitious agency. If PFPIC under Prince Adeyemi has defrauded anyone, the case would have come up since. And if it was illegal agency, the purpose would have been to defraud people but there was nothing like that, meaning that it was operating with hope that it has government backing.

Many are questioning why he should be arrested when the matter is already in court and was billed for hearing on the 27^th of July. Recall that Prince Adeyemi was arrested last October and released on the 19^th of November after spending 23 days in detention. He was later charged to court. And the case has been in court since then. Adeyemi was in court on June 16 and the case was adjourned to July 27. So, the allegation that he fails to appear in court is a camouflage and an attempt to justify his sudden arrest. Prince Adeyemi had earlier before his arrest expressed fear about his safety which is understandable. He had written an open petition addressed to the president expressing his fears, calling independent enquiry into the matter. And if Prince Adeyemi was arrested for evading the court, why was his father arrested in Ogbomosho last week? Is he involved in the matter or did he jump bail?

Many concerned observers have examined the arrest from different perspectives. Some see it as an attempt to intimidate the young man. Some think it is an attempt by desperate government officials to suppress the truth. Others believe it was an attempt to settle the young man and shut him up for good. Whatever the purpose of the arrest, many are concerned about his safety. The arrest is an abuse of his fundamental right to freedom. Keeping him in custody till September is an attempt to break him and suppress the facts of the case. But this might be counterproductive. The authorities might attempt to silence Adeyemi but they cannot silence the public and independent investigators.

In another development, a Washington-based lobby and advocacy firm Von Batten-Montague-York has publicly accused the Nigerian government of executing a coordinated cover-up saying that the arrest of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi was orchestrated by president Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the motive being to prevent Adeyemi from handing over sensitive multi-billion naira bribery and money-laundering evidence to senior officials in the President Donald Trump’s administration.

If the presidency wants the Nigerian public and the international community to take them seriously, it must look critically at this scandal. It should not be in a hurry to clear its officials of wrong doing. From the way the officials are defending Gbajabiamila, it is like there is a syndicate in Aso Rock extorting people for appointment.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK