Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has filed a N15 billion defamation lawsuit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, over allegations that he demanded a 48 per cent kickback from a ₦27.3 billion take-off grant approved for a federal agency.
Adeyemi, who describes himself as the Director-General of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), had accused Gbajabiamila during a press conference on June 25, 2026, of demanding the kickback and receiving ₦400 million through a proxy while allegedly requesting an additional ₦200 million to facilitate presidential approvals.
The legal action comes days after Gbajabiamila issued a 72-hour ultimatum demanding a public retraction and apology from Adeyemi. According to court documents filed on Friday, the Chief of Staff is seeking ₦10 billion in general damages, ₦5 billion in aggravated damages, ₦200 million as the cost of the suit, and a court order compelling Adeyemi to publish a retraction and apology in five national newspapers and across all social media platforms where the allegations were shared.
Through his legal team led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) of Pinheiro LP, Gbajabiamila described the allegations as false, malicious and defamatory. He maintained that he has never met Adeyemi, communicated with him or authorised anyone to demand or receive money on his behalf.
According to the statement of claim, the Chief of Staff denied every allegation linking him to the alleged ₦27.3 billion grant, insisting he neither demanded nor received any financial benefit from Adeyemi or anyone acting on his behalf. He also denied interfering with law enforcement agencies, intimidating media organisations or having any involvement in the death of Babatunde Tanimola, whom Adeyemi claimed acted as an intermediary.
The suit further references an interview Adeyemi granted to social media influencer VeryDarkMan, where Gbajabiamila alleges the defendant admitted he had never met or directly communicated with him. The court filing states that Adeyemi acknowledged all alleged interactions were through the late Tanimola and said he could neither confirm nor deny whether the Chief of Staff was telling the truth.
Gbajabiamila also noted that despite those admissions, Adeyemi allegedly repeated the allegations during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on July 13, 2026, even after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from his lawyers.
Court documents further revealed that Adeyemi is already facing criminal prosecution before a Federal High Court in Abuja in a separate case involving allegations of forged presidential documents and forged appointment letters. The Chief of Staff’s legal team argued that those documents formed the basis of the public allegations against him.
The FCT High Court has directed Adeyemi, whose address was listed as unknown but within the court’s jurisdiction, to enter an appearance within 14 days after being served with the originating processes. Failure to do so could result in judgment being entered against him in default.
