Femi Gbajabiamila defamation suit trial set for November

A Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled trial dates for November 9, 10, and 13 in a N15 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu. The suit is directed at Adeniyi Adeyemi, the Director-General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an agency that the Presidency has reportedly disowned.

The legal action follows allegations made by Adeyemi during a June 2026 press conference, in which he claimed Gbajabiamila demanded a 48 percent kickback from a N27.3 billion grant and collected N400 million through a proxy. Gbajabiamila has denied these claims, stating he has never met Adeyemi or authorized any such collections.

During recent proceedings, Justice Samira Bature set the November dates after Adeyemi’s legal counsel requested more time to file a defense. This request was opposed by Gbajabiamila’s lawyers, who argued that the defendant had been served in July and had missed the September deadline for filing a response. Gbajabiamila is seeking N10 billion in general damages, N5 billion in aggravated damages, N200 million in costs, and a public retraction and apology.