Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation, has been
reassigned as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to South Africa.
He was initially posted to Germany.
The former minister announced his new post on Thursday
noting that President Bola Tinubu had approved the shuffle.
According to Fani-Kayode, he had made a formal request to
Yusuf Tuggar, then-minister of foreign affairs, about his discomfort with his
Germany posting.
“I was not comfortable with Germany for a number of personal
reasons and given the fact that I had lived in Europe most of my life I would
prefer to go to South Africa which is a country that I had never been to and
for which I have so much interest,” Fani-Kayode said.
“I also expressed the fact that I would rather serve in a
country that shares some of my convictions, beilefs and values when it comes to
world affairs, that has the biggest economy in Africa, that has closer ties to
Nigeria and that is more proximate to my political thinking when it comes to
foreign affairs and a pan African vision.
“I therefore made an application for a redeployment to South
Africa two days after the initial announcement was made and I am pleased to say
that after the then Foreign Minister (H.E. Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar) heard my
reasons he considered them favourably after which he conveyed the request to
Mr. President who graciously approved it.
“I will be eternally grateful to Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar and
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for this favourable consideration.”
Ita Enang, a senator, who was originally posted to South
Africa, will now serve as Germany’s ambassador-designate in Fani-Kayode’s
stead.
THE GERMANY CHAOS
On March 6, Tinubu approved the posting of over 60
ambassadors, including Fani-Kayode, assigning them to their respective host
countries.
A week after the postings, reports surfaced alleging that
Germany rejected Fani-Kayode as an envoy.
According to the reports, the German government said it
rejected Fani-Kayode’s nomination due to his “erratic behaviour, controversial
past statements, particularly his divisive ethnocentric, tribalistic, and
religious fundamentalist comments in Nigeria”, which the European country said
was “destabilising”.
The former minister’s alleged rejection came days after he
was said to have traded words with Richard Montgomery, the United Kingdom’s
high commissioner to Nigeria, during a Ramadan dinner hosted by Bashir Lado,
the president’s special adviser on senate matters, at his Abuja residence.
But in the statement announcing his re-designation to South
Africa, Fani-Kayode debunked the reports.
“I take this opportunity to once again confirm that this was
my choice and that Germany NEVER formally rejected me, which was a fake report
that was published in an irresponsible online magazine that thrives on
sensationslism, lies and blackmail,” he said.
“Their story was not only irresponsible and insulting but
was also a total and complete fabrication based on hearsay, beer parlour talk
and cheap gossip and designed to embarass my goodself, the Federal Government
and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Worse still they listed a number of clearly outlandish and
absurd reasons for this purported and fake ‘rejection’ which they patched
together and concocted reflecting the malevolent condition of their perverse
imagination.”
Fani-Kayode said the reports surfaced on the same day an
“agreement” was sent to South Africa by the ministry of foreign affairs, which
was leaked to the media house and was “maliciously” reported.
The former minister said he had directed his legal team to
file a civil defamation suit against the newspaper.
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