The family of the purported Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, has accused members of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the council of attempting to interrogate him in police custody without his lawyers present.
CityNews reports that Adeyemi’s brother, Peter Adeyemi, made the allegation in an interview with Punch on Thursday.
He claimed that members of the committee visited the facility where Adeyemi was being detained and attempted to question him over the establishment and activities of the controversial council.
According to Peter, his brother refused to answer the lawmakers’ questions because none of his legal representatives was present during the proposed interrogation.
He alleged, “The Reps committee came and wanted to interrogate him, but he refused. They are still there trying to make him talk without any of his lawyers being present.
“We are crying out loud so that the right thing will be done.”
Peter said Adeyemi was not unwilling to cooperate with the parliamentary investigation but wanted an opportunity to respond publicly to the allegations made against him.
He argued that since other individuals had testified during the committee’s open hearings, Adeyemi should be allowed to present his own account under similar conditions.
Peter said, “He has stated that he wants to be quizzed the same way others who have accused him have spoken.
“It’s not that he is not willing to state his side of the story.”
The family urged the committee to ensure that Adeyemi’s constitutional rights were protected and that his lawyers were present during any questioning.
Lawyer Rejects Closed-Door Questioning
The development came a day after Adeyemi, through his lawyer, Ademola Oyedokun, opposed the committee’s plan to question him at an undisclosed location while he remained in police custody.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Oyedokun said his client welcomed the House investigation into the purported establishment and operations of the PFIPC.
The lawyer, however, maintained that conducting the entire interrogation behind closed doors would be unfair because allegations against Adeyemi had already been made publicly.
The statement read, “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.”
