Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the businessman at the centre of the phantom Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council scandal, has been transferred from the Nigeria Police Force's Intelligence Response Team detention facility to the Nigeria Police National Cybercrime Centre in Abuja, just days after his arrest in Osun State. Sources within the police force told SaharaReporters that Adeyemi spent two nights in IRT custody following his arrest before being moved to the cybercrime detention facility in the Federal Capital Territory. The reasons for the transfer remain unclear, as the Nigeria Police Force has yet to issue an official statement explaining the basis for Adeyemi's continued detention or the status of its investigation.
Adeyemi was arrested on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team in Osun State, hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant for his arrest. The warrant was issued after Adeyemi failed to appear for his scheduled arraignment on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, and impersonation in connection with the operation of the purported Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, an organisation the Presidency has repeatedly stated does not exist. The IRT team, led by Chief Superintendent of Police Moses Lohor, tracked Adeyemi to his hideout in Osun State and arrested him without incident. He was initially held at the IRT headquarters before being transferred to Abuja.
The transfer comes amid an intensifying legal battle between Adeyemi and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who recently filed a N15 billion defamation suit against him at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The suit stems from Adeyemi's public allegations that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from a proposed N27.3 billion take-off grant for the PFIPC. Adeyemi had claimed during a press conference that he paid N400 million through an intermediary allegedly acting for Gbajabiamila and was later asked to pay an additional N200 million to secure presidential approvals. In the suit, Gbajabiamila is seeking N10 billion in general damages, N5 billion in aggravated damages, N200 million as the cost of the action, and an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers.
Gbajabiamila, through his legal team, has denied ever meeting or communicating with Adeyemi or authorising anyone to act on his behalf. Court documents showed that Adeyemi later admitted during an interview with social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, that he had never met Gbajabiamila in person and had not independently verified the identity of the individual he believed represented the Chief of Staff, stating that all communications were conducted through the late Babatunde Tanimola. Despite that admission, Gbajabiamila alleged that Adeyemi repeated the bribery allegations during an appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today on July 13, 2026.
Adeyemi is also facing a separate criminal trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026: Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Others, over allegations of forgery, impersonation and operating a fictitious government agency. The PFIPC, which Adeyemi claimed to head, reportedly secured a N1.3 billion budget allocation and office space within the Federal Secretariat despite the Presidency insisting that the agency does not exist. The transfer to the cybercrime centre has raised fresh questions about the direction of the investigation, with critics wondering why a suspect facing forgery and impersonation charges would be moved to a facility primarily dedicated to cyber-related offences. As of the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had not issued any official statement on the reasons for the transfer or the status of the investigation.
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