The suit came about nine days after Mr Gbajabiamila’s cease-and-desist letter dated 6 July asking Mr Adeyemi to retract the claims and tender an apology.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has filed a N15 billion defamation suit against Adeniyi Adeyemi, the man accused of operating the fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Mr Gbajabiamila filed the suit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Wednesday (15 July), accusing Mr Adeyemi of falsely demanding a 48 per cent kickback from a N27.3 billion take-off grant approved for the purported federal agency.
The suit came about nine days after Mr Gbajabiamila’s cease-and-desist letter dated 6 July asking Mr Adeyemi to retract the claims, remove transcripts, videos, recordings and all related publications from every platform under his control, and tender an apology.
Mr Gbajabiamila, in the suit likely filed because his demands were unmet, is seeking N10 billion in general damages and N5 billion in aggravated damages over what he described as a sustained campaign of false and malicious allegations that gravely damaged his personal reputation and the integrity of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
He is also asking the court to order Mr Adeyemi to pay N200 million as the cost of the suit, publish an unconditional retraction and apology in five national newspapers, and post the same apology on every social media and online platform where the allegations were circulated for at least 30 consecutive days.
The suit, filed through the law firm of Pinheiro LP, is being led by Kemi Pinheiro, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday show several declaratory and injunctive prayers, with Mr Gbajabiamila insisting that the allegations made against him were entirely false, malicious and calculated to portray him as a corrupt public official who abused the powers of his office for personal enrichment.
According to the statement of claim, the controversy arose after Mr Adeyemi addressed a press conference on 25 June during which he accused the president’s chief of staff of demanding a 48 per cent kickback from a N27.3 billion take-off grant allegedly approved for a federal agency.
Mr Adeyemi also alleged that N400 million had already been paid through a proxy acting on behalf of Mr Gbajabiamila. At the same time, another N200 million was allegedly demanded to facilitate presidential approvals connected to the grant.
Beyond the bribery allegation, Mr Adeyemi accused the Chief of Staff of using his office to manipulate security agencies, interfere with investigations, intimidate individuals and media organisations, and shield himself from accountability.
The defendant further claimed that the late Babatunde Tanimola served as an intermediary between him and Mr Gbajabiamila in the alleged financial arrangement.
He also alleged that Mr Tanimola died under suspicious circumstances in a hotel fire in Utako, Abuja, on 22 October 2025, barely a day after the Chief of Staff allegedly petitioned the police over the matter.
Mr Adeyemi further claimed that he survived an assassination attempt along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway in September 2025. He alleged that unnamed powerful interests directed the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to discontinue efforts to recover mobile phones which he claimed contained evidence supporting his allegations.
Mr Gbajabiamila flatly denied every allegation.
In his court filings, he maintained that he had never met Mr Adeyemi, never communicated with him directly or indirectly, and never authorised anyone to act on his behalf in relation to any financial transaction.
“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 statement of claim stated.
Mr Gbajabiamila also denied demanding any percentage of a government grant, receiving N400 million through any intermediary, requesting an additional N200 million, or participating in any arrangement resembling the allegations made by the defendant.
He further denied knowing the late Mr Tanimola or having any involvement in the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Chief of Staff also rejected allegations that he abused his office by influencing or directing the activities of the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), or any other law enforcement or security agency.
According to the suit, the allegations were widely circulated through traditional and social media platforms, exposing the claimant to public ridicule and significantly damaging his reputation within Nigeria and abroad.
According to the court filings, Mr Gbajabiamila stated that he first became aware of the allegations after members of his staff, friends and professional associates drew his attention to recordings of Mr Adeyemi’s press conference and the widespread media reports that followed.
He said he subsequently watched the full recording of the briefing and reviewed newspaper reports, television broadcasts and online publications reproducing the allegations.
The Chief of Staff told the court that he was “profoundly disturbed” by the claims, which accused him of demanding unlawful financial benefits, receiving money through intermediaries, abusing the powers of his office, interfering with law enforcement agencies and engaging in other acts of serious misconduct.
Maintaining that every allegation was false, Mr Gbajabiamila explained that he instructed his solicitors to immediately challenge the publications.
As a result, his lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter dated 6 July demanding that Mr Matthew immediately withdraw the allegations, publish an unequivocal retraction and tender an unconditional public apology.
The notice was subsequently published in several national newspapers, including THISDAY, on 7 July, after the claimant stated that he believed the allegations might have resulted from misinformation and expected the defendant to retract them voluntarily.
However, rather than withdraw the allegations, Mr Gbajabiamila alleged that Mr Adeyemi continued granting interviews in which he repeated the claims.
One of those interviews, according to the court documents, was with social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
In his witness statement on oath, Mr Gbajabiamila told the court that Mr Adeyemi made several statements during the interview which, in his view, substantially contradicted the certainty with which he had presented the allegations at the earlier press conference.
According to the claimant, Mr Adeyemi admitted during the interview that he had never met Mr Gbajabiamila in person and had never communicated with him through a telephone conversation, video call or any other means capable of independently confirming his identity.
