Loading ...OGBOMOSO, NIGERIA — The ongoing federal budget infiltration scandal took a dangerous, authoritarian turn on Monday morning, July 6, 2026, after heavily armed police operatives stormed the Ogbomoso family residence of Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-proclaimed Director-General of the disowned Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Rather than tracking down the primary suspect through standard forensic intelligence, law enforcement authorities resorted to the illegal and archaic tactic of “substituted arrest,” dragging Adeyemi’s elderly father and an unsuspecting family friend into custody.
The Gestapo-style raid, which took place in the early hours of Monday, has left Adeyemi’s frail mother in a severe state of medical shock and triggered widespread condemnation from constitutional lawyers who accuse the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration of using state terrorism to cover up deep-rooted presidency corruption.
Falana Blasts Police Over Constitutional Breach
The unlawful arrests were verified by human rights titan and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, who revealed that the state has zero legal foundation for punishing a parent for the alleged actions of a son.
Falana heavily rebuked the police command for bypassing civil legal procedures, especially since the young suspect had already communicated his willingness to face judicial arraignment.
“The father has been arrested,” Falana confirmed in an emergency brief. “There is no legal basis for substituted arrests. The young man has promised to show up in court, so why arrest his father?”
Legal experts note that Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) explicitly forbids the arrest of any person in place of a suspect. The flagrant violation of this statute by federal police highlights a desperate panic within the administration to suppress the case before it turns into a wider embarrassment.
Silence In The Villa: Is The Presidency Involved?
The aggressive, uninvestigated overreach used against an innocent father stands in stark, hypocritical contrast to the absolute silence shielding the inner circle of the State House.
While the police were quick to mobilize truckloads of operatives to terrorize a private home in Ogbomoso, the presidency has consistently refused to launch an independent, transparent administrative inquiry into the explosive corruption allegations hanging over the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
The suspect, Prince Adeniyi, has repeatedly maintained that the ₦1.3 billion phantom agency line item could not have bypassed the rigorous treasury systems and successfully integrated into the national budget without massive internal facilitation, bribery, and approval from the Chief of Staff’s office. Despite these damning claims, no investigative panel has questioned the presidential cabinet, and no asset audits have been performed on the state officials named in the transaction.
Tinubu Must Break His Silence
The total lack of administrative accountability from the top is forcing civic coalitions to ask the ultimate question: Is the presidency in the know, or are they directly involved?
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s refusal to add his voice to the scandal or suspend his Chief of Staff pending a neutral investigation sends a dangerous signal to the Nigerian public. By allowing law enforcement to deploy illegal substituted arrests against everyday citizens while shielding high-ranking political actors from basic questioning, the presidency is fueling beliefs that the state machinery is being weaponized to silence potential whistleblowers.
Civil rights groups across the country have given the Inspector General of Police an immediate 24-hour ultimatum to release Adeyemi’s father unconditionally, warning that Nigeria cannot return to a military-era dictatorship where families are taken hostage by the state to protect corrupt politicians in Abuja.
