The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, through his lawyers have ordered the ‘Director General’ of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Adeyemi, to take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings, from all platforms, linking him to murder, bribery and other criminal conduct.
The demand was made known in a letter obtained by Punch, dated July 6, 2026, and signed by ‘Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) for Pinheiro LP, lawyers of the Chief of Staff.
The letter followed a June 25 press conference at which Adeyemi, who is facing criminal charges over his alleged role in operating the PFIPC, which the Presidency describes as a fictitious agency, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding a share of the council’s alleged take-off grant, receiving money through proxies, abusing his office and participating in a criminal cover-up.
Adeyemi also described Gbajabiamila as “a murderer” and “an assassin” during the briefing.
The letter was directed at Adeyemi, who has been listed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026, FRN v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Ors, on allegations of forgery, including forging an appointment letter bearing Gbajabiamila’s purported signature and counterfeiting Presidential Letter-Headed Papers to pass himself off as a government official fraudulently.
The letter listed nine allegations from the press conference in which Adeyemi, who had claimed to be the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, a body the Presidency has described as fictitious, accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the council’s alleged ₦27.4 billion take-off grant, equivalent to roughly ₦12.5 billion, and of receiving ₦400 million through proxies in connection with appointments linked to the entity.
However, the lawyers described all nine allegations as not only false, but gravely defamatory, stressing they were designed to portray Gbajabiamila as corrupt, dishonest, criminally culpable, morally bankrupt, administratively incompetent, a murderer and unfit to occupy public office.
According to the lawyers, the publication had generated widespread public attention, with friends, political associates and other members of the public contacting Gbajabiamila over the allegations and allegedly questioning his integrity.
The lawyers argued that Gbajabiamila had never had any contact whatsoever with Adeyemi and threatened a ₦10 billion defamation suit against him over the allegations.
The suit will further seek a perpetual injunction restraining any further defamatory publications against the Chief of Staff and a mandatory order compelling the publication of a retraction and apology.
Gbajabiamila further demanded that Adeyemi publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications against him.
The lawyers added, “You have never at any time met, interacted with, communicated with, or had any form of personal or official dealing whatsoever with him.
The decision to fabricate and publish allegations against a person with whom you have had absolutely no relationship or interaction underscores the reckless, baseless and malicious nature of your publication.
“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,” it stated, noting that the June 25 press conference allegations directly touch on the counts already before the court.
“Trial by media remains unknown to Nigerian law and cannot be a substitute for due process.”
The lawyers gave a 72-hour compliance window from the time the letter was received.
Adeyemi was also asked to stop making further defamatory statements, take down all materials, including transcripts, videos and recordings from all platforms, publish a full retraction and apology in at least five national newspapers and across all social media platforms through which the press conference was disseminated, and provide a written undertaking to refrain from further publications about Gbajabiamila.
