Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has clarified his earlier claim that the father of Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was arrested by the police, saying he has since been informed that the elderly man was only invited for questioning to assist with ongoing investigations.
Falana, however, urged the Nigeria Police Force to step aside and allow the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to carry out the investigation ordered by President Bola Tinubu into the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Speaking during an interview on Arise PrimeTime, the senior advocate reiterated that the arrest or detention of a suspect’s relative is prohibited under Nigerian law, noting that such action cannot 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,” Falana said.
He explained that police authorities in Abuja later informed him that Adeyemi’s father was not formally arrested but was invited to assist investigators by taking them to a location relevant to the inquiry 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.
Despite the clarification, Falana maintained that the police handled the matter improperly by taking the elderly man to a police station, arguing that investigators could have obtained the necessary information without subjecting him to that process.
The senior lawyer 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. He noted that although the matter has come before the court several times, the defendant has yet to be formally arraigned.
Falana 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 called on all public officials, including Adeyemi, to cooperate fully with investigators and urged the police to discontinue any parallel investigation in order 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 Falana, the investigation should extend beyond allegations of forgery to determine whether any public officials played a role in inserting the purported agency into 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 stated.
The human rights lawyer also questioned how the alleged organisation was able to secure office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat, deploy personnel, open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria, and appear in official government 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,” Falana added.
