The ICPC expanded the previous 22 counts against Mr Adeyemi to 36 and added four more defendants to him.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed amended charges against Adeniyi Adeyemi, the purported director general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), before the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
ICPC expanded the previous 22 counts against Mr Adeyemi to 36 with four more defendants charged alongside him.
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The new defendants are civil servants from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
The individuals allegedly played roles in facilitating the operation of the fake agency and entering it in the Nigerian budget.
They are Aminu Abdullahi, Harry Ogaba, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.
Mr Abdullahi and Mr Ogaba are officials of the SGF office. Mr Abdullahi is an assistant chief technical officer in the SGF office but Mr Ogaba's specific role in the office is not stated.
Ms Omameh is an official of the inspectorate department of the Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation and Ms Akhigbe is an assistant director in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning as Assistant Director.
This is the second round of amendment of the charges by the ICPC since it took over the case last month. The case was originally filed last year by the Nigerian police.
Sylvanus Tahir, the prosecution lawyer who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court of the recent development on Monday.
Monday's proceedings, originally slated for hearing Mr Adeyemi's bail application, were halted because the charges ammendment, requiring all defendants, including Mr Adeyemi, to enter their pleas.
However, the plea taking could not proceed because the fourth defendant, Ms Omameh, was absent from court on health grounds. The rest of the defendants were in court.
Mr Tahir noted that the case has now become a "joint trial consisting of five defendants."
He explained that ICPC's interactions with the fourth defendant revealed that she was on admission, although the charges and all accompanying documents, including the proof of evidence, had been served on her.
Citing Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Mr Tahir argued that an accused person has to be present in court throughout trial, "subject to the exception stated therein."
He said, therefore, Ms Omameh's absence "has handicapped and constrained the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, this being a criminal charge."
He urged the court to grant a short adjournment to allow the fourth defendant time to recover and enter her plea.
Mr Adeyemi's lawyer, Ibrahim Angulu, a SAN, did not raise any objection, but reminded the court of Mr Adeyemi's prolonged detention.
Trial judge Halilu Yusuf granted the adjournment and fixed 18 November for the arraignment of the defendants.
He ordered that Mr Adeyemi be taken back to the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, and that the other defendants return to the ICPC's detention facility.
Previous arraignment
Mr Adeyemi was previously arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on 30 September.
But the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, withdrew the charges on 12 October for amendments and refiling at the FCT High Court in Abuja, considered the appropriate venue for the nature of charges involved in the case.
On 29 October, the ICPC arraigned Mr Adeyemi on the amended indictment of 22 counts, including forgery, impersonation as a public servant, and obtaining over N27 billion to start the fake agency and N3.8 billion for personnel costs.
The anti-graft agency accused him of obtaining the money by forging a document addressed to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
It accused him of forging documents signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appointing him as Director General of PFIPC, and occupying government office facilities at the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase III.
ICPC also said Mr Adeyemi forged a document to the Accountant-General of the Federation captioned "RE: REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF SELF-ACCOUNTING STATUS" for the non-existent agency to operate within the government financial reporting structure.
It also alleged that he forged documents to the DG of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to get a domain name for the agency.
The commission also accused Mr Adeyemi of gifting N210,000 to Aminu Abdullahi, an Assistant Chief Technical Officer in the Office of the Secretary General of the Federation (OSFG), "to facilitate the allocation of office space," without official authorisation.
He also allegedly gifted N300,000 to an officer in the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Ogaba Harry, to facilitate the release and handover of two official vehicles (a Prado SUV and Land Cruiser SUV) to him, the charge said.
ICPC also alleged that on 29 July 2025, Mr Adeyemi collected N20 million from Oyekunle Gbenga, the Managing Director of Divine Dopacy Nigeria Limited, under the false pretence of a "project facilitation loan" for a purported N2.8 billion contract awarded by the fictitious agency to procure furniture and renovate the official residence of the DG, PFIPC.
He allegedly committed the offences between 2024 and 2026, contravening sections 364, 366, and 132 of the Penal Code Cap. 532, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990, Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and Section 9(a) and punishable under Section 9(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Mr Adeyemi denied the charges.
Amended charges
The amended charges filed on 3 November, still maintained the previous allegations against Mr Adeyemi.
The amended case, however, added alleged offences, including the roles of the civil servants newly charged alongside him.
The prosecution accused them of official corruption, using their position to accept gratification, and impersonating a public servant. The charge also added alleged criminal conspiracy and giving gratification to public officers against Mr Adeyemi.
Past setbacks
The police first charged Mr Adeyemi and others said to be at large with eight counts on 27 November 2025.
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But several attempts to bring Mr Adeyemi to court for arraignment failed.
He was scheduled to be arraigned on 3 February, but the attempt failed after his lawyer asked for more time. The lawyer argued at the time that the defence was served with the charges only recently. Judge Umar eventually adjourned the matter until 11 February.
But the court did not sit on 11 February, and a fresh date of 14 April was subsequently communicated.
Mr Adeyemi was absent from court on 14 April. His lawyer presented a letter indicating that he was ill and asked for an adjournment. The prosecution opposed the request, and the court moved the case to 16 June.
Mr Adeyemi appeared on 16 June, but his lawyer told the court that he was unwell and unable to proceed. Judge Umar therefore fixed 14 July for the arraignment.
When the case was called on 14 July, the prosecution told the court that it did not know Mr Adeyemi's whereabouts.
His defence lawyer, Mr Francis, told the judge that his client was unavailable and that the defence had tried to reach him.
The prosecution then made an oral application for a warrant for his arrest, which Judge Umar granted, and rescheduled proceedings for 30 September, when he was eventually arraigned and the judge ordered his remand in prison.
Less than 12 hours after the court issued the order, the police said its Intelligence Response Team from Abuja arrested him in a hideout in Osun State.
He has remained in custody at Kuje prison since then.
