Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has filed a ₦15 billion defamation suit against Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, over allegations that he demanded a 48 percent kickback from a ₦27.3 billion take-off grant meant for a purported federal agency.
In the suit, Gbajabiamila is asking the court to award ₦10 billion in general damages, ₦5 billion in aggravated damages and ₦200 million as the cost of the action.
He also wants the court to order Adeyemi to publish a full retraction and apology in five national newspapers and pin the apology on all social media platforms where the allegations were published for 30 days.
The lawsuit stems from claims by Adeyemi, who presented himself as head of the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, that Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 percent kickback from the agency's ₦27.3 billion grant and received ₦400 million through a proxy.
Court documents quoted in the suit stated, "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 filing also said Gbajabiamila issued a cease-and-desist letter on 6th of July demanding a retraction, but alleged that Adeyemi instead repeated the claims in subsequent media appearances. According to the suit, Adeyemi later admitted he had "never met the Chief of Staff in person, never held a video call with him, and had no independent means of verifying the identity" of the person he believed was Gbajabiamila.
Adeyemi is already facing criminal charges over alleged forged presidential documents linked to the controversial agency, while the FCT High Court has directed him to enter an appearance within 14 days after being served with the suit.
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