The Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has threatened to file a N10 billion defamation lawsuit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi over severe criminal allegations linking him to bribery, budget manipulation, and assassination.
The legal warning was contained in a cease-and-desist letter dated July 6, 2026, signed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, on behalf of Pinheiro LP, the legal representatives of the Chief of Staff.
Femi Gbajabiamila’s lawyers deny allegations
The legal dispute traces back to an explosive press conference held by Adeyemi on June 25, 2026.
During the media briefing, Adeyemi accused Gbajabiamila of aggressively demanding a 48 per cent cut of a purported N27.4 billion take-off grant meant for the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), a sum equal to roughly N12.5 billion.
Adeyemi further alleged that he had funnelled N400 million through proxies to secure executive approvals and labelled the Chief of Staff an “assassin” and a “murderer.”
Dismissing the claims, Pinheiro LP stated that 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.”
The legal team emphasised that Gbajabiamila has never met, interacted with, or had any official or personal dealings with Adeyemi, making the public claims entirely fabricated and malicious.
Suspect already facing Federal High Court forgery trial
According to Gbajabiamila’s legal team, the public outburst by the suspect was a deliberate calculation to introduce a “trial by media,” which remains alien to Nigerian law.
The lawyers revealed that Adeyemi is currently standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026 (FRN v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Ors).
The federal criminal charges against him include:
Forgery of an official appointment letter carrying Gbajabiamila’s cloned signature.
Counterfeiting official Presidential letterhead documents.
Impersonation by presenting himself falsely as a high-ranking federal government official.
“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 legal notice read.
The N1.3bn budget paradox: Fictitious agency vs Appropriation Act
The controversy is heavily tied to institutional vulnerabilities in the national budget. The Presidency has consistently maintained that the PFIPC is a fraudulent, completely fictitious organisation with zero legal backing.
However, document trails show that the “ghost council” successfully embedded itself into the 2026 Appropriation Act under the head Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, securing more than N1.3 billion in official allocations.
Adeyemi has leveraged this line item to defend his corporate activities, arguing that a council formally listed in an active national budget signed into law by the President cannot be labelled non-existent.
Gbajabiamila’s legal team has demanded that Adeyemi immediately halt further defamatory remarks, pull down all video and text transcripts from digital platforms, and publish an unreserved apology in at least five national newspapers within a specified timeline.
Failure to comply will result in a civil suit demanding N10 billion in aggravated damages—which Gbajabiamila pledges to donate entirely to charity—alongside criminal defamation proceedings in the Federal Capital Territory.
Probe both parties- Falana
Meanwhile, human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, has challenged the Presidency’s authority to unilaterally clear its own officials, including Femi Gbajabiamila, from institutional scrutiny.
Falana has called for an independent judicial investigation into both parties to unravel exactly how an unauthorised, fake entity circumvented treasury checks to secure billions in the national budget.
The suspect, Adeniyi Adeyemi, is expected to appear in court at the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2026.
Read Also: From ‘fake’ UN job to fake govt agency: The decade-long backstory of Prince Adeniyi
