Presidential Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila has put Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi on notice of a N10 billion defamation lawsuit following claims that tied him to murder, bribery, and other criminal wrongdoing.
A letter dated July 6, 2026, and signed by Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, on behalf of law firm Pinheiro LP, was sent to Adeyemi after a June 25 press briefing in which he made a series of explosive accusations against the Chief of Staff.
Adeyemi, who is currently facing criminal charges connected to his alleged leadership of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council — an entity the Presidency insists does not genuinely exist — used the briefing to accuse Gbajabiamila of demanding a cut of the council’s take-off funding, collecting payments through intermediaries, misusing his office, and helping cover up wrongdoing. He went further, branding Gbajabiamila a killer and an assassin.
The Allegations
According to the legal letter, Adeyemi claimed at the press conference that Gbajabiamila sought 48 percent of the council’s alleged N27.4 billion take-off grant — around N12.5 billion — and pocketed N400 million routed through proxies tied to appointments within the agency. He further alleged that the Chief of Staff leaned on his position to intimidate individuals and news outlets, was complicit in fraudulent budgeting, tried to weaponize security agencies, and possibly performed his duties while impaired by intoxicants.
Pinheiro’s letter characterized all nine allegations raised at the briefing as false and severely damaging, arguing they were calculated to paint Gbajabiamila as corrupt, criminal, morally compromised, and incompetent.
“No Relationship Whatsoever“
The letter firmly denied any connection between the two men, stating that Gbajabiamila has never met, spoken with, or had any dealings — personal or official — with Adeyemi. The lawyers argued that inventing claims against someone with whom there is no relationship at all exposes the recklessness and malice behind the accusations.
They also flagged the timing as an aggravating factor, noting that Adeyemi chose to air these allegations publicly only after criminal charges had already been filed against him — charges that overlap with the subject matter of his June 25 claims. The letter stressed that media trials have no place in Nigerian law and cannot substitute for due legal process.
Demands and Deadline
Adeyemi was given a 72-hour window to comply with several demands: cease further defamatory statements, remove all related content — including videos, transcripts, and recordings — from every platform, publish a retraction and apology in a minimum of five national newspapers plus all social media channels used to spread the original claims, and sign a written commitment not to make further statements about Gbajabiamila.
Should he fail to meet these conditions, the letter warned of a two-pronged legal response: criminal defamation charges under FCT law, alongside a civil suit demanding N10 billion in damages — to be directed to a charity chosen by Gbajabiamila — plus a permanent injunction and a court-ordered apology.
Background on the Disputed Agency
The Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council appears in the 2026 Appropriation Act, listed alongside the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, and was allocated more than N1.3 billion — split roughly into N803 million for personnel, N200 million for overhead, and N300 million for capital projects.
At his press conference, Adeyemi pushed back on claims that the agency is fictitious, pointing out that it appears on pages 50 and 51 of a bill the President himself signed into law. The Presidency, however, maintains the council is not a legitimate entity.
Adeyemi is currently listed as a defendant in a Federal High Court case in Abuja (Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026), accused of forging a letter purportedly bearing Gbajabiamila’s signature and using counterfeit presidential letterhead to impersonate a government official.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, representing Adeyemi, has argued that the Presidency has no constitutional power to clear anyone’s name in the matter and has called for an independent investigation into both men.
