Gbajabiamila Drags Adeyemi To Court has taken a new legal turn as Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, over allegations linking him to an alleged kickback scheme involving a purported ₦27.3 billion federal grant.
Key Highlights
- Gbajabiamila Drags Adeyemi To Court over alleged defamatory claims.
- Chief of Staff seeks ₦15 billion in damages and ₦200 million as litigation costs.
- Suit demands a public apology and retraction in five national newspapers and across social media.
- Gbajabiamila denies ever meeting or communicating with Adeyemi.
- Court filings describe the allegations as false, malicious and damaging to his reputation.
- Adeyemi is also facing criminal prosecution over alleged forged presidential appointment letters and related documents.
According to the suit filed on Thursday, Gbajabiamila is seeking ₦10 billion as general damages, ₦5 billion as aggravated damages, and ₦200 million to cover the cost of litigation.
The Chief of Staff is also asking the court to compel Adeyemi to publish a public retraction and apology in five national newspapers and across all social media platforms where the allegations were circulated, with the apology to remain online for 30 days.
The legal action follows allegations by Adeyemi that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from funds allegedly approved as a take-off grant for the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an organisation the Presidency has maintained does not exist.
According to court documents filed by Gbajabiamila’s legal team, Pinheiro LP, the allegations are false, malicious and have caused significant damage to his reputation.
The court filings stated that Adeyemi alleged during a press briefing that he paid ₦400 million through an intermediary purportedly acting on behalf of the Chief of Staff and was later asked to provide an additional ₦200 million to facilitate presidential approvals.
Adeyemi also alleged that Babatunde Tanimola, whom he described as the intermediary between him and Gbajabiamila, died in a suspicious hotel fire in Abuja shortly after the Chief of Staff allegedly petitioned the police.
He further claimed he survived an assassination attempt along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway and accused security agencies of failing to investigate the disappearance of mobile phones he said contained crucial evidence.
Gbajabiamila, however, categorically denied all the allegations, insisting he had never met or communicated with Adeyemi and had never authorised anyone to solicit or receive money on his behalf.
According to the statement of claim, the Chief of Staff’s lawyers had earlier issued a cease-and-desist letter dated July 7, 2026, demanding an immediate retraction and apology. Instead, the suit alleges that Adeyemi repeated the allegations during subsequent interviews, including appearances with social media personality VeryDarkMan and on Channels Television‘s Politics Today.
The court documents further revealed that during one of the interviews, Adeyemi admitted he had never met Gbajabiamila physically, never held a video conversation with him, and had not independently verified the identity of the person he believed represented the Chief of Staff.
Gbajabiamila also pointed to Adeyemi’s admission that he could not conclusively establish his guilt and intended to hand over his documents to the police for further verification.
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The filings further disclosed that Adeyemi is currently facing criminal prosecution before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations involving forged presidential appointment letters and other related documents.
The Chief of Staff maintained that the repeated publication of the allegations subjected him to public ridicule, caused reputational harm, and attracted widespread enquiries from associates within and outside Nigeria.
He stated that he deliberately refrained from engaging in a media confrontation because he believes the judiciary remains the proper avenue for resolving disputes of this nature.
Gbajabiamila is therefore asking the court to grant all the reliefs sought, arguing that the action is necessary to protect both his personal reputation and the integrity of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Court records also indicate that Adeyemi was arrested in Osun State after failing to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where a warrant had earlier been issued for his arrest.
