Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has threatened a N10bn defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi over allegations linking him to murder, bribery and other criminal conduct.
The letter, sighted by The PUNCH, is dated July 6, 2026, and was signed by ‘Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, for Pinheiro LP, lawyers of the Chief of Staff.
The letter followed a June 25 press conference at which Adeyemi, who is facing criminal charges over his alleged role in operating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, which the Presidency describes as a fictitious agency, accused the Chief of Staff of demanding a share of the council’s alleged take-off grant, receiving money through proxies, abusing his office and participating in a criminal cover-up.
Adeyemi also described Gbajabiamila as “a murderer” and “an assassin” during the briefing.
It demanded that Adeyemi take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings, from all platforms, publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications about Gbajabiamila.
The letter was directed at Adeyemi, who has been listed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026, FRN v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Ors, on allegations of forgery, including forging an appointment letter bearing Gbajabiamila’s purported signature and counterfeiting Presidential Letter-Headed Papers to fraudulently pass himself off as a government official.
The letter listed nine allegations from the press conference in which Adeyemi, who had claimed to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a body the Presidency has described as fictitious, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the council’s alleged N27.4bn take-off grant, equivalent to roughly N12.5bn, and of receiving N400m through proxies in connection with appointments linked to the entity.
Adeyemi also alleged that Gbajabiamila abused his office to intimidate individuals and media organisations, knowingly participated in fraudulent budget processes, sought to misuse security agencies, and may have discharged his official duties under the influence of intoxicating substances.
The lawyer described all nine allegations as “not only false but gravely defamatory,” saying they were “designed to portray our client as corrupt, dishonest, criminally culpable, morally bankrupt, administratively incompetent, a murderer and unfit to occupy public office.”
In the letter, Gbajabiamila argued that he has never had any contact whatsoever with Adeyemi.
“You have never at any time met, interacted with, communicated with, or had any form of personal or official dealing whatsoever with him,” the lawyers wrote on behalf of the Chief of Staff to the President, adding that the decision to “fabricate and publish allegations against a person with whom you have had absolutely no relationship or interaction underscores the reckless, baseless and malicious nature of your publication.”
The letter also cited the active criminal proceedings as an aggravating circumstance.
“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,” it stated, noting that the June 25 press conference allegations directly touch on the counts already before the court.
“Trial by media remains unknown to Nigerian law and cannot be a substitute for due process,” the lawyers added.
The lawyers gave a 72-hour compliance window from the time of receipt of the letter.
They asked Adeyemi to stop making further defamatory statements, take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings from all platforms, publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications about Gbajabiamila.
Failure to comply, the letter warned, would trigger both criminal defamation proceedings under FCT law and a civil suit seeking N10bn in aggravated and exemplary damages, to be paid to a charity of Gbajabiamila’s choice, alongside a perpetual injunction and a court order compelling the apology.
The PFIPC was listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and received over N1.3bn in budget allocations, including approximately N803m for personnel costs, N200m for overhead and N300m for capital expenditure.
Adeyemi argued at the June 25 press conference that an agency appearing on pages 50 and 51 of a presidential-assented appropriation bill could not be truly non-existent.
However, the Presidency insists the agency is fraudulent and does not exist.
In Adeyemi’s defence, human rights lawyer Femi Falana said the Presidency lacked the constitutional authority to exonerate anyone in the matter and called for an independent probe of both Gbajabiamila and Adeyemi.
Adeyemi is due to appear in court on July 27, 2026.