The self-acclaimed Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has rejected plans by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee to question him at a private location while he remains in police custody.
Adeyemi said he has no objection to appearing before the lawmakers. However, he insisted that any appearance must take place during an open hearing where Nigerians can hear his response to the allegations against him.
His position was made known on Wednesday in a statement issued by his lawyer, Ademola Oyedokun.
The lawyer said his client was ready to cooperate fully with the committee investigating the establishment and activities of the PFIPC but opposed any arrangement that would keep his testimony away from public view.
According to Oyedokun, every witness who has appeared before the committee so far has done so publicly.
He argued that fairness requires that Adeyemi be given the same opportunity to defend himself before Nigerians.
“We have read that the committee intends to interview our client at an undisclosed date and place. We ask it, respectfully, to think again.
“Everyone else in this matter has been heard in public, and what has been said about our client was said in public. He should be allowed to answer in the same place it was said,” the statement read.
The lawyer also urged the House committee to rely on its constitutional powers to secure Adeyemi’s attendance at an open sitting instead of conducting a private interview.
He referred to Section 89 of the Constitution, which empowers the National Assembly to summon individuals and compel their appearance during investigations.
“Section 89 of the Constitution gives the committee power to summon any person and to compel his attendance.
“We ask it to use that power and to require the police to produce our client at a public sitting.
“He will attend on any date it names, with his counsel, and answer every question put to him,” he said.
Oyedokun explained that while criminal allegations against his client would be addressed before the Federal High Court and relevant law enforcement agencies, the House inquiry deals with a separate issue concerning the creation and recognition of the council.
He maintained that the public deserves to hear Adeyemi’s account of how the PFIPC came into existence and the role played by government officials in its activities.
“Our client does not ask the committee to compromise any investigation. He will answer in public the questions this committee was constituted to ask, and will reserve, upon legal advice, any question touching a matter before a court or an agency.
“Those may be taken separately and in private. What cannot be right is that the whole of his account be taken behind a closed door because part of it is sensitive.
“We will not argue our client’s case in a press statement. The allegations are before the Federal High Court and before several agencies, and they will be answered there, on oath.
“But this committee is asking a different question: how this council came to exist, and who in government acted upon it.
“That question our client is anxious to answer, and Nigerians are entitled to hear it answered in public. We ask only that they remember, meanwhile, that no court has yet heard him say a single word,” he said.
The lawyer further questioned the legality of Adeyemi’s continued detention. He argued that the warrant being relied upon by the police only authorised his arrest and appearance before the Federal High Court.
According to him, it did not permit his continued detention without being produced before a judge.
“No order committing him to custody has ever been made, served on him or shown to him, and none could have been made, because he has never been brought before any court,” he said.
The latest development follows the decision of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee to question Adeyemi outside the National Assembly while he remains in police custody.
Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Gagdi, had explained that the arrangement was necessary because investigations involving the Nigerian Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) are still ongoing.
Gagdi said the committee was informed that Adeyemi remains in police custody under a court order.
He added that the House would not take any action capable of interfering with ongoing judicial proceedings or violating the principle of separation of powers.
The lawmaker also stated that the National Assembly lacks the authority to disregard an existing court order relating to the suspect’s detention.