The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, and Adeniyi Adeyemi, Director-General of the contentious Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), are embroiled in a N15 billion defamation suit. Trial is scheduled to begin in a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on November 9, 10, and 13.
After attorneys clashed over Adeyemi’s plea for an extension to provide his defence, Justice Samira Bature set the dates on Thursday.
During the rescheduled hearing, Gbajabiamila’s attorneys Kemi Pinheiro and Olukayode Enitan argued against Adeyemi’s lawyer M.P. Usman’s request for more time to submit his defence.
On Wednesday, October 14, Usman submitted a memorandum of attendance and requested further time to address the lawsuit, according to his statement to the court.
The deadline for Adeyemi to provide a defence had passed in September, according to Pinheiro, and the court papers were served on him on July 30, 2026.
The case should not be further delayed, he argued, because it impacted the integrity of a public officer. The attorneys representing Gbajabiamila also requested that the court set three dates for the commencement and conclusion of their client’s case.
The dates of November 9, 10, and 13 were then set for definitive trial by Justice Bature.
The court proceedings were missed by both Gbajabiamila and Adeyemi. Jamiu Agoro, Chioma Olisakwe, Pinheiro, and Enitan were the claimants’ solicitors, whereas Usman was the defendant’s.
The president’s disowned PFIPC organization was allegedly given a N27.3 billion take-off grant, and Gbajabiamila claims that Adeyemi requested a 48% commission from the money.
The claims were allegedly delivered by Adeyemi during a news conference on June 25, 2026, as previously reported by TheCable. Regarding the agency, he also claimed that Gbajabiamila had received N400 million via an intermediary.
Through his legal team, Gbajabiamila sent a cease-and-desist letter to Adeyemi on July 7. The letter requested that Adeyemi remove the accusations, remove any videos or articles connected to them, and publish an apology and retraction in at least five national dailies as well as on social media sites where the charges were shared.
Then he sued for N15 billion, asking for N10 billion in damages overall, N5 billion in aggravated damages, and N200 million to cover legal fees.
Claiming to have never dealt with Adeyemi in person or given anyone permission to collect or demand payment on his behalf, Gbajabiamila made no mention of either in his statement of claim.
He also said he never received any kind of payment from Adeyemi and that he never demanded a cut of the supposed funding.