Wale Igbintade
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has taken back his position on the alleged arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew’s father, saying reports available to him showed he was only invited for questioning that could help their investigations.
He, however, urged the police to step aside and allow the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to carry out the investigation ordered by President Bola Tinubu into the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Speaking on Arise PrimeTime, Falana said the arrest or detention of a suspect’s relative was prohibited under Nigerian law, insisting that the reported arrest of Adeyemi’s father could not be justified under the Constitution, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), or the Nigeria Police Act.
“No police officer or any law enforcement agency can arrest the family member of a suspect. The reported arrest of Mr. Adeyemi’s father cannot be justified under the Constitution, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, or the Nigeria Police Act,” he said.
Falana disclosed that police officers in Abuja later informed him that the elderly man was not formally arrested but merely invited to assist investigators by taking them to a location relevant to their investigation and making a statement.
“I was informed that the old man wasn’t really arrested. The police merely invited him to take them to a particular place as part of their investigation. He made a statement, not under caution, and after that, he and the family member who accompanied him were released,” he said.
But in spite of the explanation, the senior advocate maintained that the police acted improperly by taking the elderly man to a police station, arguing that investigators could simply have obtained his statement without subjecting him to such treatment.
Falana also disclosed that, to the best of his knowledge, Adeyemi was arrested in October 2025 and detained for about three weeks before charges were filed against him on November 27, 2025.
Although the matter has come up in court about four times, he said, Adeyemi has yet to be arraigned.
The senior lawyer welcomed President Tinubu’s directive mandating the ICPC to investigate the alleged PFIPC scandal, expressing confidence that the anti-graft agency would uncover what he described as “a scandal of monumental proportions.”
He urged all public officials, including Adeyemi, to cooperate fully with investigators.
Falana further argued that the police should suspend any parallel investigation to avoid undermining the President’s directive.
“No agency of government should undermine the President’s decision to have this matter investigated by the ICPC. The police should step down and allow the ICPC to conduct its investigation,” he said.
According to him, the investigation should go beyond allegations of forgery to determine whether any public officials facilitated the inclusion of the purported agency in the national budget.
“If any public officer was involved, particularly in inserting the agency’s budget into the Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, such persons must be held accountable,” he said.
Falana questioned how the alleged organisation secured office accommodation in the Federal Secretariat, deployed personnel, opened accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, and found its way into public records and the national budget.
“There are many questions that must be answered. How was an office established for this organisation in the Federal Secretariat? How were staff deployed? How were accounts opened at the Central Bank? How did items relating to this organisation find their way into Nigeria’s budget?
“This is not a matter that a mere charge of forgery can resolve. The investigation must be expanded,” he added.
