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The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has threatened a ₦10 billion defamation lawsuit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi over allegations of murder, bribery and criminal conduct.
Adeyemi claims to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an organisation that has been disowned by the Nigerian Government, described as fictitious by the Presidency and civil society organisations, and whose activities are the subject of criminal charges.
At a press conference on June 25, Adeyemi alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded a share of the council’s purported take-off grant, received money through proxies, abused his office and participated in a criminal cover-up. He also described the Chief of Staff as a murderer and an assassin.
In response, Gbajabiamila, through his lawyers, demanded that Adeyemi remove all materials relating to the allegations, including transcripts, videos and recordings, from all platforms.
He also asked Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms where the press conference was shared, and to provide a written undertaking not to make any further defamatory publications about him.
In a letter dated July 6, 2026, Gbajabiamila’s lawyers listed nine allegations made by Adeyemi and described them as “not only false but gravely defamatory.”
The lawyers said the allegations were “designed to portray our client as corrupt, dishonest, criminally culpable, morally bankrupt, administratively incompetent, a murderer and unfit to occupy public office.”
Gbajabiamila also denied ever having any contact with Adeyemi.
“It is even more disturbing to our client that you resorted to defaming him through your press statements after a criminal charge had been filed against you,” the letter stated.
It added that the allegations made during the June 25 press conference directly relate to issues already before the court.
“Trial by media remains unknown to Nigerian law and cannot be a substitute for due process,” the lawyers said.
The lawyers gave Adeyemi 72 hours from receipt of the letter to comply with the demands, failing which legal action would commence.
The PFIPC was listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and received more than ₦1.3 billion in budgetary allocations, including about ₦803 million for personnel costs, ₦200 million for overheads and ₦300 million for capital expenditure.
Adeyemi is scheduled to appear in court on July 27, 2026.
