Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi to retract allegations accusing him of murder, bribery, abuse of office and other criminal acts or face a N10 billion defamation lawsuit.
The demand was contained in a letter dated July 6, 2026, written by his lawyers, Pinheiro LP, and signed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro.
The legal notice followed a press conference addressed by Adeyemi on June 25, during which he levelled a series of allegations against the Chief of Staff. Adeyemi claimed that Gbajabiamila sought a percentage of the alleged take-off funds of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), received payments through proxies and was involved in a cover-up. He also described the presidential aide as "a murderer" and "an assassin."
Gbajabiamila's lawyers rejected the claims, describing them as false, malicious and defamatory.
According to the letter, the allegations were aimed at portraying the Chief of Staff as corrupt, dishonest, criminally liable and unworthy of holding public office.
The lawyers maintained that Gbajabiamila had never met or communicated with Adeyemi and had no personal or official relationship with him.
They argued that the absence of any prior interaction underscored what they described as the reckless and fabricated nature of the allegations.
The letter further pointed out that Adeyemi made the allegations after criminal charges had already been instituted against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Adeyemi is standing trial in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026, filed by the Federal Government, over allegations that he forged official documents, including an appointment letter purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila, and used counterfeit presidential letterheads to present himself as the Director-General of the PFIPC.
The Presidency has repeatedly maintained that the PFIPC is not a legitimate government agency, describing it as a fictitious organisation.
However, Adeyemi has argued that the council cannot be regarded as non-existent because it appeared in the 2026 Appropriation Act under the designation Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, where it received budgetary allocations exceeding N1.3 billion.
His legal team has relied on the agency's inclusion in the budget document as evidence of its legitimacy.
In the pre-action letter, Gbajabiamila demanded that Adeyemi immediately stop making further defamatory statements, remove all videos, transcripts and recordings of the June 25 briefing from every platform, publish an unreserved apology and retraction in at least five national newspapers and across his social media platforms, and provide a written undertaking not to repeat the allegations.
The lawyers warned that failure to comply within 72 hours would leave their client with no option but to initiate both criminal defamation proceedings under the laws of the Federal Capital Territory and a civil action seeking N10 billion in aggravated and exemplary damages.
They added that the suit would also seek a perpetual injunction restraining further publication of the allegations and a court order compelling Adeyemi to issue a public apology.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), who is representing Adeyemi, has called for an independent investigation into the dispute.
Falana argued that the Presidency does not have the constitutional authority to determine the culpability of either Gbajabiamila or Adeyemi, insisting that the issues raised should be subjected to an impartial probe.
Adeyemi is expected to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 27, 2026, for the commencement of proceedings in the criminal case against him.
Leave a Reply