• Walson-Jack admits administrative errors
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has said that the police won’t be able to produce the embattled Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeyemi Adeniyi without a warrant from a competent court.
To this end, Disu yesterday in Abuja told the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the controversial inclusion of the PFIPC in the 2026 Appropriation Act to obtain a reproduction warrant from a competent court before the police could produce him.
The police team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Olufemi Akinola, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Bashir Abdullahi made the request during the resumed investigative hearing chaired by Hon. Yusuf Gagdi.
Akinola stated: “The IGP is committed to cooperating with the committee in the discharge of the mandate that the committee has. The IGP has been mandated to produce the suspect, Prince Adeyemi Matthew, before the committee members today (Wednesday), but that is not being done due to the fact that he is at present being held in custody based on a subsisting warrant for his detention.
“And as it is, in order for us to continue to relate well, we are of the opinion that the honourable committee chairman and members could seek and avail us of a court reproduction warrant for us to be able to produce him.”
Gagdi, while responding to the police request clarified that the police had not refused to honour the committee’s invitation but were constrained by the existing court order.
According to him, the police did not refuse to produce him, stressing that the challenge is that he is presently in custody based on a subsisting warrant. “We will continue to work within the law while carrying out this assignment,” he stated.
Also, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack admitted that her office committed administrative errors in processing approvals connected to the purported Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).
She acknowledged that due diligence ought to have been carried out before recognising it as an ad hoc office.
Walson-Jack described the incident as unprecedented in the history of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
However, Gagdi said that the committee had obtained the approval of Speaker, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen to present its preliminary findings to the public next week after hearing from the remaining stakeholders.
He reiterated that the committee remained committed to a transparent and thorough investigation, after which its comprehensive report would be laid before the House of Representatives for further legislative action.