Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has filed a N15 billion defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew over allegations that he demanded a 48 per cent kickback from a N27.3 billion take-off grant approved for the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Gbajabiamila is asking the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja to award him N10 billion as general damages, N5 billion as aggravated damages and N200 million as the cost of the suit.
He is also seeking an order compelling Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers and pin the apology on all social media platforms where the allegations were published for 30 days.
The Chief of Staff, through his lawyers from Pinheiro LP led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kemi Pinheiro, described the allegations as false, malicious and defamatory.
Court documents showed that Adeyemi had alleged during a press conference that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from the agency’s N27.3 billion take-off grant. He further claimed that N400 million had already been paid through a proxy on behalf of the Chief of Staff, while another N200 million was needed to secure presidential approvals.
Gbajabiamila, however, denied ever meeting or communicating with Adeyemi or authorising anyone to act on his behalf.
“The claimant has never met the defendant, never held any meeting with him and has never authorised any intermediary, representative, agent or proxy to demand or receive money on his behalf,” the court filing stated.
The suit also referred to Adeyemi’s claims that a man identified as Babatunde Tanimola acted as an intermediary between him and the Chief of Staff before allegedly dying in a hotel fire in Abuja in October 2025.
Gbajabiamila further denied allegations that he interfered with security agencies or played any role in the alleged death of Tanimola or reported attempts on Adeyemi’s life.
According to the court documents, the Chief of Staff’s lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter that was published in national newspapers on July 7, 2026, demanding an immediate withdrawal of the allegations. Rather than retract the claims, Adeyemi allegedly granted an interview to social media influencer VeryDarkMan and later appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he repeated the allegations.
In his witness statement, Gbajabiamila said Adeyemi admitted during the interview with VeryDarkMan that he had never met him in person or verified his identity through a video call or any other means.
He told the court that despite those admissions, Adeyemi continued to accuse him publicly of demanding a kickback.
Gbajabiamila also informed the court that Adeyemi is already facing criminal prosecution before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations involving forged presidential documents and forged appointment letters.
The Chief of Staff maintained that the allegations had caused serious damage to his personal and professional reputation.
“I had built my reputation over several decades of public service on integrity, honesty and fidelity to duty,” he said, insisting that the allegations went beyond legitimate criticism and amounted to false accusations of corruption, bribery and abuse of office.
He added that he chose not to respond through the media because he believed the courtroom was the proper place to resolve the dispute.
Gbajabiamila urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought, saying the action was filed not only to protect his personal reputation but also “to protect the integrity and dignity of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President from false and reckless allegations.”