Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has withdrawn from the legal team representing Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, the embattled alleged Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Falana confirmed his withdrawal during a brief interview on Tuesday but declined to disclose the reason behind his decision.
"I have withdrawn from the Adeyemi case," the senior lawyer said.
Although Falana did not provide further details, a source familiar with the matter claimed that the senior advocate had accepted the case on a pro bono basis and advised Adeyemi against granting media interviews while investigations and court proceedings were ongoing.
According to the source, Adeyemi allegedly ignored the advice by participating in an Instagram Live interview with social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
The source further alleged that tensions increased after Adeyemi reportedly informed Falana that he would not appear in court on July 27, the date scheduled for his arraignment.
It was gathered that the decision not to attend the court proceedings ultimately prompted Falana to withdraw from the defence team.
However, neither Falana nor Adeyemi had publicly confirmed those claims as of the time of filing this report.
Falana's withdrawal comes weeks after he publicly criticised the Nigeria Police Force over its handling of the investigation involving Adeyemi.
The senior lawyer had argued that the reported arrest of Adeyemi's elderly father violated constitutional safeguards and could not be legally justified.
According to Falana, investigators should have obtained the elderly man's statement at his residence instead of taking him to a police station.
The controversy surrounding Adeyemi began after allegations that the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), which he claimed to lead, lacked legal backing despite reportedly appearing in the Federal Government's budget framework.
The matter later escalated with allegations of forgery, impersonation and conspiracy levelled against Adeyemi. He has, however, denied all the allegations.