•Femi Gbajabiamila and Adeniyi Adeyemi
Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has threatened a ₦10 billion defamation suit against Adeniyi Adeyemi, the disputed “director-general of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC)”, over allegations of murder and bribery.
In a letter signed by Kemi Pinheiro, Gbajabiamila’s counsel, the chief of staff gave Adeyemi 72 hours to take down all videos and comments in which he made several allegations against the president’s chief of staff.
He asked Adeyemi to publish an apology and a full retraction in at least five national newspapers and on social media, where his press conference of June 26 was circulated.
Pinheiro labelled the allegations from Adeyemi as “malicious, reckless and entirely without factual foundation” and targeted at showing Gbajabiamila as “corrupt, morally bankrupt, and a murderer”.
He was therefore asked to “cease and desist from making, repeating, publishing or causing to be published any further defamatory statements concerning our client” and also “provide our law firm with a written undertaking that you shall refrain from making any further defamatory statements concerning our client”.
The law firm said that “unless the foregoing demands are fully complied with within 72 hours of your receipt of this letter, our Client shall, without further reference to you, commence appropriate legal proceedings against you”, including lodging a criminal petition/complaint against “you for criminal defamation of our client in line with extant laws of the F.C.T.”
“Commencing civil proceedings where we shall, on behalf of our client, seek amongst others the sum of ₦10,000,000,000.00 (Ten Billion Naira Only) as aggravated and exemplary damages which shall be paid to a charity or charities of our client’s choice,” the letter read in part.
Gbajabiamila, via the firm, also threatened a “perpetual injunction restraining any further defamatory publication and a mandatory order compelling the publication of an apology and retraction”.
The development comes amid the controversy over the disputed “council”.
Last month, the presidency dismissed Adeyemi’s claim, saying the PFIPC does not exist. Despite insisting he was appointed by Gbajabiamila, the chief of staff has denied doing so.
In a press conference last month, Adeyemi faulted Gbajabiamila’s comment, claiming the council wouldn’t have appeared in the 2026 budget if it did not exist. He alleged that the former House of Representatives Speaker got ₦400 million from him through a proxy and asked for another ₦200 million to enable him to get the appointment.
Adeyemi called for a probe into Babatunde Tanimola’s death, describing him as an intermediary and alleging that there is a threat to his life. Prosecutors have accused Adeyemi of forgery of several government documents, including a presidential appointment letter-headed paper.
But he has denied any wrongdoing, insisting he was appointed and accusing the presidency of trying to silence him.
“If I’m wrong, let the court of law do that, and if I’m right, let the court of law do that; do the right thing,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
Adeyemi denied claims labelling him as a con artist, arguing that “since the matter is in the court, let the court of competent jurisdiction vindicate me because I’m ready to clear my name.”
“Let the court take its course. Since my lawyers are involved, everybody will follow us. They will monitor the whole thing. Then let the court of competent jurisdiction do what they need to,” he said.
