He accused Femi Gbajabiamila of demanding a 48% kickback from a ₦27.3bn grant—now the Chief of Staff wants ₦15bn and says they've never even met

• Femi Gbajabiamila has filed a ₦15 billion defamation lawsuit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi over corruption allegations.

• The Chief of Staff denied ever meeting Adeyemi or demanding a 48% kickback from a ₦27.3 billion government grant.

• Gbajabiamila wants Adeyemi to publicly retract the allegations and apologise in newspapers and across social media for 30 days.

• Court documents also revealed Adeyemi is already facing criminal charges over alleged forged presidential documents linked to the controversy.

The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has taken Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi to court, demanding ₦15 billion in damages over allegations that he demanded a 48% kickback from a ₦27.3 billion take-off grant meant for a federal agency.

The lawsuit, filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, comes after Adeyemi publicly accused the Chief of Staff of being involved in a massive corruption deal linked to the controversial agency.

Gbajabiamila is asking the court to award him ₦10 billion in general damages, ₦5 billion in aggravated damages, ₦200 million as the cost of the suit, and also compel Adeyemi to publish a full apology and retraction.

According to the court papers, the apology must appear in five national newspapers and remain pinned across all social media platforms and online channels where the allegations were published for 30 days.

The legal action was filed by senior lawyers from Pinheiro LP, led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), alongside Folu Oguntade (SAN), Olukayode Enitan (SAN) and Chukwudi Enebeli (SAN), who described the allegations as false, malicious and defamatory.

The suit stems from claims Adeyemi made during a press conference where he alleged that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48% cut from the ₦27.3 billion government grant.

Adeyemi also claimed that ₦400 million had already been paid through a proxy allegedly acting for the Chief of Staff, while another ₦200 million was requested to secure presidential approvals.

But Gbajabiamila flatly denied the allegations.

According to the court filing:

“The claimant has never met the defendant, never held any meeting with him and has never authorised any intermediary, representative, agent or proxy to demand or receive money on his behalf.”

He also denied ever requesting money, using proxies, influencing security agencies or interfering in any investigation involving Adeyemi.

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The case also touches on Adeyemi's earlier claims involving the late Babatunde Tanimola, whom he described as the middleman between him and the Chief of Staff.

Adeyemi had alleged that Tanimola died in a hotel fire in Utako, Abuja, on October 22, 2025, barely a day after Gbajabiamila allegedly petitioned the police.

He further claimed he escaped an assassination attempt along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway in September 2025 and alleged that security agencies stopped investigating the theft of his phones because of a "directive from above."

Gbajabiamila denied having any knowledge of Tanimola's death or any alleged attempt on Adeyemi's life.

Interestingly, the court documents say Gbajabiamila's lawyers had already issued a cease-and-desist letter on July 6, 2026, demanding that Adeyemi withdraw the allegations.

Instead of apologising, Adeyemi later appeared in an interview with social media personality VeryDarkMan, where, according to the claimant, he made statements that contradicted his original accusations.

The Chief of Staff told the court that during the interview, Adeyemi admitted he had never met Gbajabiamila physically, never had a video call with him and could not independently verify that the person he was communicating with was actually the Chief of Staff.

The court filing also says Adeyemi admitted all his communications were through the late Tanimola and that he could neither confirm nor deny whether Gbajabiamila was telling the truth, adding that he planned to hand over his documents to security agencies for verification.

Despite those admissions, Gbajabiamila alleged that Adeyemi repeated the same allegations during an appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today on July 13, 2026.

Another major revelation in the suit is that Adeyemi is already standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

According to court documents, he is facing criminal charges in Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Others (Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026) over allegations involving forged presidential documents and forged appointment letters.

Gbajabiamila argued that those same documents formed the basis of the public allegations made against him.

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In his witness statement, the Chief of Staff maintained that he has never had any personal, professional or official relationship with Adeyemi.

He also denied demanding kickbacks, receiving money through proxies, abusing his office, manipulating law enforcement agencies or intimidating journalists.

Gbajabiamila told the court he had spent decades building his reputation through public service and that while public officials should expect scrutiny, false accusations of corruption and abuse of office should not go unchallenged.

He said the allegations sparked widespread public discussion and led to enquiries from friends, associates and colleagues both in Nigeria and abroad, causing serious damage to his reputation.

According to him, he deliberately avoided responding through the media because he believed the courts were the proper place to resolve the matter.

The Chief of Staff added that the lawsuit is aimed not only at protecting his personal reputation but also preserving the integrity of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.

The FCT High Court has now directed Adeyemi to enter an appearance within 14 days after being served with the court processes or risk judgment being entered against him in default.

The latest development comes just days after Adeyemi was reportedly arrested in Osun State by a special police team from the office of the Inspector-General of Police.