10 things to know about Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu’s chief of staff

On Wednesday, 1 July, the presidency responded to an allegation that had circulated for days on social media. Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew presents himself as director-general of a body called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council – an agency that Nigeria’s presidency says does not exist. It is alleged that Gbajabiamila facilitated his appointment in exchange for a total of ₦600m ($436,658), said to comprise ₦400m allegedly received through a proxy and a further ₦200m allegedly demanded.

Gbajabiamila denies any dealings with Adeyemi, and the presidency, in a statement by spokesman Bayo Onanuga, described Adeyemi as an impostor and “con artist” whose claims were being “weaponised” by the president’s opponents.

Adeyemi has been arrested and charged, his allegations remain unproven, and the case is before the courts. The presidency has not only denied the agency exists but has accused Adeyemi of using forged documents to open an account at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

But this is not the first time Gbajabiamila has found himself in a storm.

Here are 10 things to know about him.

1. Lawyer, once practised in the US

He is a lawyer by training. Born in Lagos in 1962, Gbajabiamila had his early education in Lagos, obtained a law degree from the University of Lagos, and studied further in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was called to both the Nigerian Bar and the Georgia Bar in the US, where he practised for a time before returning to Nigeria.

2. Speaker of the House

He entered politics in 2003, winning a House of Representatives seat for Surulere Constituency I, Lagos. He held the seat for 20 years, serving as Majority Leader from 2015 to 2019 and as Speaker from 2019 to 2023.

3. Gave up seat to become Chief of Staff to Tinubu

In 2023, he won a sixth term but gave up the seat when Tinubu appointed him chief of staff. He is widely described as one of the president’s ‘Lagos Boys’ — the circle of longtime Lagos allies prominent in the administration.

4. Denials over replacement with Hakeem Muri-Okunola

His job places him among Tinubu’s closest aides, but his position has twice been the subject of removal rumours. In September 2024, speculation about a cabinet reshuffle suggested he might be replaced by former Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola; and in December 2025, there were claims Tinubu had replaced him with Hakeem Muri-Okunola. The presidency denied both claims.

5. Nearly sacked over Obasa drama

He has described a near-sacking. In May, Gbajabiamila said Tinubu almost dismissed him over the removal of Lagos State House of Assembly speaker Mudashiru Obasa in January 2025. By his account, Tinubu demanded to know whether Desmond Elliot, an actor-turned-lawmaker and Gbajabiamila’s mentee, was among those who signed Obasa’s impeachment notice. Gbajabiamila said he vouched for Elliot, only to discover later that Elliot had signed it.

During an interview on Channels Television, Elliot confirmed that he had indeed signed the impeachment notice. He said he was in South Africa when the process began, and by the time he returned, most lawmakers had already signed. Elliot said he added his own signature believing the move had the presidency’s backing. He denied masterminding the plot, saying Gbajabiamila’s public comments came as a shock given their long relationship.

6. Unilag hostel confusion

A hostel bearing his name is under scrutiny. In March 2026, a 484-bed student hall built in his name at his alma mater, the University of Lagos, became the subject of controversy. The building was inaugurated in January 2024, with a bust of Gbajabiamila installed at the entrance. Students told BusinessDay newspaper they had widely understood the building to be his personal donation, an impression they linked to it being named after him.

An investigation by the newspaper found that the project, officially titled the ‘Construction and Furnishing of a 484-bed Landmark Student Hostel’, was in fact financed with N1.6bn in public funds under the 2020 Zonal Intervention Project appropriation. It also found that bed spaces were priced at rates comparable to private hostels — about N950,000 for a single room and N710,000 in a four-man room, against roughly N80,000 in older university-run halls.

BusinessDay said its efforts to reach Gbajabiamila and UNILAG’s dean of student affairs for comment were unsuccessful. UNILAG’s management later defended the pricing, saying the hall is a premium, self-sustaining facility run by a private facility manager to cover 24-hour power, water, security and maintenance, and is not operated for profit, while subsidised university hostels remain available.

7. Georgia law licence suspension

He has faced questions over his time as a lawyer in Atlanta. On 26 February 2007, the Supreme Court of Georgia approved a 36-month voluntary suspension of his Georgia law licence, accepted by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 2007 after he admitted mishandling client funds and failing to disburse a $25,000 settlement. The Nigerian High Court in Abuja ruled, in 2019, that the Georgia bar disciplinary proceeding did not constitute a criminal conviction. It held that “the disciplinary order did not amount to a criminal offence”.

Later reporting by Peoples Gazette, citing State Bar of Georgia records, said he was suspended again in 2015 and that his bar membership was terminated effective 1 July 2020, in part over unpaid dues. A Nigerian court reportedly held that the disciplinary order did not amount to a criminal offence.

When he was running for Speaker, his campaign director-general, Abdulmumin Jibrin, stated that Gbajabiamila “has never been convicted by any court of any crime” — a statement consistent with the record, since the Georgia matter was disciplinary rather than criminal, but one that does not address the discipline itself.

8. Potential Lagos governor

He was in the frame for the Lagos governorship. The Punch and other newspapers reported that Gbajabiamila was to be among the aspirants for the 2027 Lagos State governorship. This was before stakeholders from the All Progressives Congress party held a March 2026 meeting with Tinubu and coalesced around the incumbent deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, as consensus candidate.

Tinubu formally endorsed Hamzat in late April at a meeting announced by the presidential spokesman, Onanuga. On 26 April, Gbajabiamila publicly backed Hamzat at his Oniru residence, a move widely seen as ending speculation that he would pursue the position himself.

9. Wife Salamatu represents for the First Lady

His wife is a public figure in her own right. He is married to Salamatu Gbajabiamila, known in Lagos social circles for her expressive, avant-garde fashion. During his time as Speaker, she headed the House of Representatives Members’ Spouses Association, and she sits on the governing council of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative, sometimes representing the First Lady at public functions.

10. Surulere Kingmaker

He remains a dominant political figure in Surulere, where years of community projects and empowerment programmes have made him, in the estimation of many observers, a local kingmaker.

The Africa Report contacted Bayo Onanuga, a spokesperson for the presidency, on 2 July for comment on this story, but had not received a reply by the time of publication.

(The Africa Report)