The federal government has formally taken over the prosecution of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director-general of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), as he pleaded not guilty to all eight charges filed against him.
Adeyemi entered the plea before Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday after the eight counts were read and explained to him.
When asked whether he understood the charges, the defendant confirmed that he did before responding, “not guilty,” to each of the counts.
Following the plea, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo, who led the prosecution, told the court that the defendant was now due to face trial.
“In view of the not guilty plea by the defendant, he is due to have put himself for trial,” Oyedepo said.
The prosecution subsequently urged the court to grant an order for an accelerated trial, citing the high level of public interest generated by the case.
Oyedepo also asked the court to remand Adeyemi in prison custody pending the conclusion of the trial.
However, counsel to the defendant, Genesis Francis, opposed the request for continued custody, informing the court that a bail application had already been filed on Adeyemi’s behalf.
Francis said the bail application was filed on 12 January and had been served on the prosecution, which had also filed its response.
The development followed the Federal Government’s decision to take over the case from the Nigerian Police, which originally instituted the charges against Adeyemi last year.
Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, told the court that he was appearing in the matter on the directive of the Attorney-General of the Federation.