By Ghazali Ibrahim
Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has instituted a ₦15 billion defamation lawsuit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, the self-proclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), over allegations accusing him of corruption, bribery and abuse of office.
The suit, filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, follows claims made by Adeyemi during a press conference in which he alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 per cent kickback from a proposed ₦27.3 billion take-off grant purportedly approved for the PFIPC.
In court documents, Gbajabiamila described the allegations as false, malicious and defamatory, insisting he had never met, communicated with or had any official dealings with Adeyemi.
The Chief of Staff argued that the claims were deliberately fabricated to tarnish his reputation and undermine public confidence in his office.
He is asking the court to award ₦15 billion in general and exemplary damages for the alleged injury to his character and public standing.
The legal action marks an escalation in a dispute that began earlier this month when Gbajabiamila, through his lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Kemi Pinheiro, issued Adeyemi a 72-hour ultimatum to retract the allegations, apologise publicly and remove all related publications or face civil and criminal proceedings.
At the time, the threatened suit was valued at ₦10 billion.
Adeyemi had publicly accused the Chief of Staff of demanding nearly half of the agency’s take-off grant and receiving hundreds of millions of naira through proxies linked to appointments into the council.
He also levelled other allegations, including abuse of office and misconduct.
Gbajabiamila has categorically denied all the accusations, maintaining that they are baseless and unsupported by any evidence.
His legal team contends that the publications were intended to portray him as corrupt, dishonest and unfit for public office.
The Presidency has consistently maintained that the PFIPC is not a recognised federal agency.
Authorities have accused Adeyemi of falsely presenting himself as the Director-General of the organisation, and he is already facing criminal charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations including forgery of official documents and impersonation connected to the purported agency.
