Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has instituted a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew over allegations that he demanded kickbacks from a purported ₦27.3 billion federal grant.
Gbajabiamila is also asking the court to compel Matthew to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers and on all social media platforms where the allegations were circulated, with the apology to remain online for 30 days.
The legal action followed claims by Matthew that the Chief of Staff demanded a 48 per cent kickback from funds allegedly approved as a take-off grant for the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an agency the Presidency has described as non-existent.
In court documents filed by his legal team from Pinheiro LP, led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) Kemi Pinheiro, Folu Oguntade, Olukayode Enitan and Chukwudi Enebeli, Gbajabiamila described the allegations as false, malicious and damaging to his reputation.
According to the statement of claim, Matthew alleged during a press conference that he had already paid ₦400 million through a proxy acting for the Chief of Staff and was asked to produce an additional ₦200 million to secure presidential approvals.
He also claimed that Babatunde Tanimola, whom he described as the intermediary between him and Gbajabiamila, died in a suspicious hotel fire in Utako, Abuja, shortly after the Chief of Staff allegedly petitioned the police.
Matthew further alleged that he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway and accused top security agencies of abandoning investigations into the theft of his mobile phones, which he claimed contained critical evidence.
Gbajabiamila, however, denied the allegations in their entirety, insisting that he had never met Matthew, communicated with him or authorised anyone to negotiate or receive money on his behalf.
"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," the court filing stated.
The suit also disclosed that the Chief of Staff's solicitors published a cease-and-desist notice in several national newspapers on July 7, 2026, demanding a withdrawal of the allegations, a public apology and retraction.
Instead of retracting the claims, the suit alleged that Matthew granted further interviews, including one with social media influencer VeryDarkMan and another appearance on Channels Television's *Politics Today*, where he repeated the allegations.
Gbajabiamila stated in his witness deposition that Matthew admitted during one of the interviews that he had never met him physically, conducted a video call or independently verified the identity of the person he believed to be the Chief of Staff.
According to the deposition, Matthew also admitted he could not state categorically whether Gbajabiamila was guilty and intended to submit his documents to the police for verification.
The court filings further revealed that Matthew is already standing trial before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/652/2026: *Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew & Others*, over allegations involving forged presidential documents and appointment letters.
Gbajabiamila argued that the repeated publication of the allegations had caused significant reputational damage, attracting widespread public attention and enquiries from associates within and outside Nigeria.
He maintained that he had built his public career on integrity and honesty and denied demanding any financial benefit, receiving money through proxies, interfering with security agencies or having any connection with the alleged incidents involving Matthew or the late Tanimola.
The Chief of Staff said he chose not to respond through the media because he believed the courts were the proper avenue for resolving the dispute.
He urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought, saying the action was necessary not only to protect his personal reputation but also to preserve the integrity of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Meanwhile, court documents indicated that Matthew was arrested by the police in Osun State after failing to appear before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Mohammed Umar subsequently ordered his arrest.
0 Comments
DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed on this platform as comments were freely made by each person under his or her own volition or responsibility and were neither suggested nor dictated by the owners of News PLATFORM or any of their contracted staff. So we take no liability whatsoever for such comments.
Please take note!