BY TAIBAT UMMI YAKUBU

The corruption trial of Adeniyi Adeyemi, accused of heading a fictitious government agency, has been expanded to include four additional defendants, with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) filing a fresh 36-count charge before the FCT High Court in Abuja.

The latest charge, filed at the Maitama division of the court, brings the number of defendants to five and increases the counts from the previous 22. The new defendants are Aminu Abdullahi, Ogaba Harry, Florence Omameh and Patricia Akhigbe.

The expanded case could not proceed to arraignment on Monday because Omameh, who is listed as the fourth defendant, was absent from court.

At the resumed proceedings, prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, informed Justice Yusuf Halilu that the commission had filed a second amended charge and added the four individuals to the case.

Tahir told the court that Omameh was reportedly receiving medical attention at a hospital in Abuja after developing a health challenge. He said the prosecution had served her with the amended charge and accompanying proof of evidence, but her absence made it impossible to arraign all five defendants together.

He explained that the prosecution could not proceed with the arraignment because the matter had become a joint criminal trial involving the five accused persons.

“Her unavailability in court has handicapped and constrained the prosecution from proceeding with the arraignment, this being a criminal charge,” he told the court.

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The prosecutor relied on Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, which requires defendants to be present during criminal proceedings, subject to exceptions recognised by the law. He consequently asked the court for a brief adjournment to allow the absent defendant to recover and attend court.

The development also stalled the bail proceedings earlier expected to continue for Adeyemi, who was arraigned on October 29 under the previous charge.

Adeyemi's lawyer, Ibrahim Angulu, SAN, did not object to the amended charge or the request for an adjournment. However, he raised concerns about the length of time his client had spent in detention.

After considering the submissions, Justice Halilu adjourned the case until November 18 for the arraignment of all five defendants.

The judge also ordered that Adeyemi be returned to Kuje Correctional Centre, while the other defendants were directed to return to the ICPC detention facility.

The case concerns the alleged operation of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an organisation which the ICPC claims was presented as a government agency.