Adeyemi was led into the courtroom at about 2:33 p.m. on Wednesday, wearing a white flowing outfit and a white baseball cap.
He was brought before the court by a female police officer attached to the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC). Although he appeared cheerful, he kept his head lowered, with the brim of his cap partly covering his face, as he waited for his case to be called.
His appearance followed several unsuccessful attempts to arraign him since last year due to various reasons, including requests by his lawyers, his absence from court and the judge’s official engagements elsewhere.
The case, which was listed for arraignment on February 3, did not proceed.
The charges were filed in November 2025 after Adeyemi was arrested by the police in October of the same year following a petition by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The police charged Adeyemi and two others, identified as Femi and Anu, who are said to be at large, with eight counts bordering on conspiracy, forgery and impersonation.
The prosecution alleged that Adeyemi and the other defendants conspired to forge several official documents, including a purported presidential appointment letter, State House letterheads, a conveyance approval for the take-off of the purported council, requests for approval of staff accounts and office space, as well as letters seeking collaboration with a federal ministry.
In one of the counts, the prosecution alleged that Adeyemi falsely presented himself as the Director-General of PFIPC, an offence punishable under Section 179 of the Penal Code.
Adeyemi has denied the allegations.
Police investigators had said they recovered correspondence between the purported agency and several government institutions, while also tracing 34 bank accounts linked to Adeyemi, including nine allegedly opened in the names of purported government agencies.
On July 14, after Adeyemi failed to appear for another scheduled arraignment, Justice Umar issued a bench warrant for his arrest following an oral application by the prosecution.
Police later arrested him in Osun State, less than 12 hours after the order was issued, after he was traced to a hideout by the Intelligence Response Team from Abuja.
The arrest was confirmed by police spokesperson Anietie Iniedu.
Adeyemi had remained in police custody pending his arraignment.
Justice Umar issued the arrest warrant after Adeyemi’s lawyer, Genesis Francis, told the court that his client failed to appear because he feared for his life and had written an open letter to President Tinubu.
Francis said his client wanted to remain alive to face the trial.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
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