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Tag: Fani-Kayode

N2.5b bazaar: I ‘m not on the run, says Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode yesterday said he was neither on the run nor gone underground to avoid being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in connection with alleged N2.5billion scandal.

He said he is prepared to appear before EFCC for grilling whenever he is invited.

He also threatened to sue The Nation over what he described as a media trial on the scandal.

Fani-Kayode, who made his position known in a statement in Abuja, said he is not a coward

The statement said: “I have just read some absurd media reports in which The Nation newspaper have quoted their sources in the EFCC as saying that I had gone underground and that I was hiding from them. This is false. I have not been invited by the EFCC by letter and neither have they phoned me or attempted to reach me in any other way. I have been in my Abuja home for the last few weeks and I am not hiding from anyone.

“I am not a coward and this attempt to further demonise and humiliate me by the EFCC will fail. If they have any questions for me why don’t they just write to me or call me, give me a date and I will be in their office.

“ I have made my position clear on the issue of the Presidential campaign funds, I have written an essay about it in my various columns about two weeks ago and I have been waiting for the EFCC to reach me ever since then. They have invited others but they have not invited me.

“I do not believe that I have done anything wrong and this latest attempt to criminalise me and make me look like a fugitive from justice will fail.”

The ex-Minister insisted that he has not been invited by the EFCC and vowed to resist any attempt to intimidate him.

The statement added: “Others that were invited to the EFCC over this same campaign funds issue were sent letters of invitation and were reached. I appear to be the exception and now these hideous lies are being fed to the newspapers to make it look as if I am in hiding or that I am running from them just to sensationalise the whole issue.

“This is also to justify what the EFCC wish to do which is to arrest me in public, humiliate me or to storm my home and lock me up indefinitely. There is no need for all that drama and if it happens that way the Nigerian people will know why.

“I have no fear of the EFCC, I will respond to their invitation any day and anytime they send it to me and I will help them to clarify whatever issues they wish to raise in any way that I can.

“Others were invited in a civilized way and were treated in a humane and decent manner. I really do wonder why I should be treated differently, criminalised in the newspapers in this way and not even afforded the common courtesy of a formal invitation by them. I await their letter or their call and I leave those that wish to give the impression that I am running from them to God.”

In a separate letter to the Editor of The Nation , Fani-Kayode threatened to go to court over what he described as media trial on the scandal.

In the letter through his counsel, Adeola Adedipe and Ahmed Raji, the ex-Minister said: “Let it be known to you that by reason of the above afore highlighted spurious claims, you have condescended to engage in a media trial, contrary to your statutory obligations and professional ethos.

“It will also interest you to know that the EFCC has not at any time invited our Client, whether for a civil chat or to volunteer information on any perceived queries.

“Our Client is not in hiding, neither are his phones switched off nor has he gone underground. Much more important is the fact that the allegations are untrue, denigrating, fictitious and were made in bad faith. To suggest via print media that our Client has refused to report, gone underground or is in hiding; and that you will fish him out, is to say the least, most despicable and scandalous of our Client.

“We take the liberty of this moment to sensitise you of the far reaching legal implications of your unguided presumptions, comments, opinions and politically induced remarks about our Client.

“The imperative to write this letter is also shrouded in the fact that necessary legal machineries will be activated against you, in the event that you do not desist from taking other steps or actions calculated to further embarrass our Client.

“In the meantime, you are hereby advised to retract the said comments made about our Client and tender an unreserved apology to him through the same medium and any other widely read/circulated media outfit.

“Our Client reserves legal protection by operation of law and we will be left with no preferred alternative than to enforce or seek such remedies against you and Yusuf Alli, if you fail to so do within 7days. You are also advised to enter into negotiation for damages. We anticipate your cooperation.”

Fani-Kayode had been engaged in a hide and seek game since when the EFCC launched investigation into the N2.5billion scandal.

Out of the six people implicated in the scandal, only a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman had been grilled by the anti-graft agency.

The details of how the largesse was shared are: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); Olu Falae(N100m) and Okey Ezenwa (N100million)

Nenadi, who was granted administrative bail on health grounds, was expected for more interrogation in Lagos this week.

She allegedly owns an account, titled “Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited,” where substantial part of the funds was lodged and disbursed to party chieftains.

Fani-Kayode was rated as “the chief beneficiary” of the disbursement of the slush funds as he allegedly received N840million, paid in three tranches into his Zenith Bank, Maitama branch account with No.1004735721.

May 6, 2016
N2.5b ‘fraud’: Udenwa, Fani-Kayode in trouble

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detectives yesterday arrested former Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa over the disbursement of a huge sum of money during the 2015 presidential election.

Of the N4billion withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N2.5 billion was paid into the accounts of six chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including Udenwa, and the Goodluck Support Group (GSG).

As of last night, Udenwa was still being detained at the Lagos State office of the anti-graft agency, which has launched a manhunt for a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

Of the six people implicated in the scandal, only a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, has been grilled by detectives.

The details of how the cash was disbursed are: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); Olu Falae(N100m) and Okey Ezenwa (N100million).

Mrs Usman, who was granted administrative bail on health grounds, is expected for more interrogation in Lagos this week. She was said to have refunded N140 million. She signed an undertaking to make more refunds and forfeit two houses to the government.

She allegedly owns an account, “Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited”, into which a substantial part of the funds was lodged and from where cash was disbursed to party chieftains.

According to a source, Udenwa, who was allegedly picked up in Enugu was flown to Lagos for questioning.

A source in EFCC said: “As part of the ongoing probe of the N2.5billion illegally collected from the CBN for campaign purpose, our operatives have arrested a former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa. He was picked up in Enugu but now detained in Lagos for grilling.

“He is expected to explain how he came about N350million with a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

“Besides getting the list of beneficiaries of the N350million, we are interested in how he will refund the cash, which was illegally taken from the CBN.”

The EFCC has launched a manhunt for a former Aviation Minister Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, who “has refused to report to the agency for interaction”.

“All attempts by our operatives to locate the whereabouts of Mr. Fani-Kayode have failed because he has not only switched off his phones, he has virtually gone underground,” the source said, adding: “We will fish him out wherever he is. Having been watch-listed by the EFCC, he cannot hide for long .”

Fani-Kayode is rated as “the chief beneficiary” of the disbursement of the slush funds as he allegedly received N840million, paid in three tranches into his Zenith Bank, Maitama branch account with No.1004735721.

The EFCC source gave the details of the transactions from Mrs Usman company’s accounts to Fani-Kayode and others.

The source said: “The first tranche of payment involving N350million hit the account on February 19, 2015. Another N250milion was also paid into the account on February19, 2015 while N240million was similarly credited to the account a month later; precisely March 19, 2015.

“The balance on this account as at 31st December, 2015 was N189, 402.72.”

The Goodluck Support Group allegedly received N320million

Falae allegedly received N100m through Marreco Limited, a company in which he is listed as chairman. The fund was credited into the company’s United Bank for Africa Plc account No. 1000627022 on March 25, 2014. The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation has denied any wrongdoing.

“Both Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri got N350million in two tranches. The first tranche of N150million was paid into their joint account with Zenith Bank on January 13, 2015. The second tranche of N200miilion was credited into their account with Diamond Bank,” the source said, pleading not to be named because he is not permitted to talk to the media.

Okey Ezenwa is believed to have received N100million.

Fani-Kayode has said that he got the cash for campaign purposes and that he rendered and account of how it was spent. He never knew the source of the cash, he said.

Udenwa said: “The money was disbursed with approval from the presidential campaign headquarters. It was not paid into my personal account.”

May 5, 2016
N4b campaign bazaar: EFCC freezes Fani-Kayode’s account

Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode will have to live without one of his accounts for now.

The account has been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as it steps up investigation into the alleged N4billion campaign bazaar cash received from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 elections.

The funds were allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization of Jonathan.

Fani-Kayode declared yesterday that he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the cash from the CBN or funding of the campaign by the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.

But he admitted that campaign funds were paid into the account of a company linked with a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, from where it was shared to him and others.

He dared the EFCC to “do their worse” in a statement in Abuja entitled “The Money Transfers and the Truth about the Presidential Campaign Funds.”

The beneficiaries may be arrested for questioning by the anti-graft agency.

Details of the largesse sharing are as follows: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); and Okey Ezenwa (N100million).

Giving his own side of the story,Fani-Kayode said he received the funds from ex-President Jonathan and he is accountable only to the former leader and not the EFCC.

He said the funds disbursed were not from public coffers and these were routed through a private company.

His words: “Our funds were given to us by the President who was the leader of our party through the Director of Finance of the PCO and we were not in a position to inquire into the sources of funding of the party’s campaign. Indeed, it was not our responsibility to do so.

“Once I got these clarifications and confirmations, I agreed to receive the funds into my bank account and use them for their stated purpose.

“The transfers were made and I used the funds to carry out all our operations during the course of the presidential campaign.

“It was an aggressive and well-run campaign and we gave our opponents a very hard time indeed. It was also very expensive and we barely had the resources that we really needed, but we did an effective job with the little we were given.

“The whole nation, including our friends and our enemies, can bear witness to that and they saw the excellent quality of our work. Hardly anyone can dispute this, yet some fail to appreciate the fact that such a strong showing costs a lot of money. Media and publicity campaigns cannot be run on goodwill alone. You need cash and plenty of it.

“During the course of the election and after its conclusion, I submitted detailed accounts of our expenses and evidence of our work to the Director of Finance of the PCO for onward transmission to the Director-General of the PCO and ultimately President Jonathan himself about how the money was spent and they were satisfied.

“Given the fact that these were not public funds, the only legal body that can inquire into our expenditure of campaign funds is President Goodluck Jonathan who set up the PCO.”

Continuing, he said: “I cannot sit by silently as my name is dragged through the mud in this way and I am convicted in the court of public opinion. This has happened to me once before and it took me seven years to clear my name. It will not happen to me again.

“Consequently I am constrained to take this opportunity to state the facts of this matter, set the record straight and await my traducers and accusers to make their next move. It is indeed time to challenge those that are making these allegations and to kill the lie.

“ The fact that my bank account was frozen on the orders of the EFCC two weeks ago without any explanation is proof of the fact that I am being targeted and that those that seek to have their wicked way with me are about to pounce.

“Given this, it is important that all the relevant facts are put before the world before I am subjected to the Dasuki treatment, put away indefinitely and not given the opportunity to defend myself before the public. Meanwhile, in their usual manner, after this is done, the EFCC will then flood the media with all manner of lies about my so-called atrocities which only exist in the figment of their imagination.

“The allegation of fraud and the receipt of public funds from the National Security Adviser’s Office and Central Bank into my bank account are false.

“These allegations are baseless, wicked, shameful and irresponsible. It is not true that any money was paid into my account by or from the National Security Adviser’s Office, the Central Bank of Nigeria or any other government agency or institution last year or at any other time.”

He said the funds were wired into his account and others through a company associated with ex-Minister Nenadi Usman.

”As the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organization, I was asked to submit a budget for my Directorate by Chief Tony Anenih, the Presidential Adviser to the Presidential Campaign Organization and Mrs. Nenadi Usman, the Director of Finance.

“My team and I prepared the budget and it was approved.

“Rather than collect cash, for security reasons and the purposes of accountability, I was advised by the Director of Finance to open a bank account for this purpose, which I did.

“The funds were paid into that account in instalments at the beginning of last year by the Director of Finance and each deposit was authorized and approved by the Presi dential Adviser to the PCO, Chief Tony Anenih.

“The account that they used to transfer the money to me was a private company account which was owned or under the control of the Director of Finance.

“It was the same company account that was used to send money to all the other Directors of the PCO and the Zonal Directors, State Directors and all our PDP governorship and legislative candidates during the various campaigns.

“ When I asked about the sources of the funds, I was told by the Director of Finance that the funds were sourced from private individuals and private companies who opted to support and fund President Jonathan’s campaign. She told me that no money was paid into her company from any government official, account or agency. This she told me in the presence of witnesses and I believed her.

“ I was told that there was a fundraising event held by our party (PDP) which took place in early January 2015 in which billions of naira were raised specifically for the Presidential campaign. I believed this to be true and I had no reason to doubt it.”

The ex-Minister said the slush funds were shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization of Jonathan.”

He wondered why he has been the subject of “absurd and outlandish headline stories in various newspapers which have accused me of being a fraudster and which have claimed that funds were transferred into my bank account by the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

Such stories, he claimed , portrayed him as having used public funds for the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He branded such stories as petty, shameful, nauseating and “ also a reflection of the desperation of those that seek to pull me down and destroy me simply because my opposition to this government has been unrelenting.”

“ In January 2015, I was appointed as the Director of Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Director-General of the Campaign Organization was Senator Ahmadu Alli and the Deputy Director-Generals were Alhaji Ibrahim Turaki SAN (North) and Governor Peter Obi (South).

Chief Tony Anenih, an elder statesman and one of the most distinguished and revered leaders in our country, was the Presidential Adviser to the campaign organization.

“There were at least 10 other directors and directorates apart from me and mine including the Directorate of Mobilization which was led by the respected Professor Jerry Gana and the Directorate of Administration which was led by Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo. There were also zonal and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization in all the zones and states of the country.

“All these names that I have mentioned including all the other directors whose names I have not mentioned are, as far as I am aware, men and women of immense integrity and good character and they have mostly been either ministers of the Federal Republic or state governors at one time or the other in our history. It was an honour to serve alongside such people and I have absolutely no regrets about doing so.

“Yet given the fact that I was not the only director in the campaign organization and in view of the fact that all the directors and zonal and state directors got their funds from the same source and account as I did, one wonders why only I and three others should be singled out for this reprehensible treatment and these false allegations.

“ I chose to remain silent on the issue until now simply because the allegations have not been officially made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or anyone else, but the newspapers keep citing their sources “inside the EFCC” as their basis for these shameful allegations.

Mr. Josef Goebbels, Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s information minister, when Germany was in the terrible grip of the Nazi party, said that once a lie is repeated enough times, it becomes truth to those who are continuously subjected to it. This is especially so if it goes unchallenged.”

Fani-Kayode, who took swipes at the EFCC and The Nation in his statement, asked the anti-graft agency to “do the worst.”

He said: “Yet if this is an attempt to intimidate, silence or distract me, they shall fail because I am not a coward and I do not fear them or those that sent them to torment me.

“As long as Jesus is on the throne and our hands are clean, no matter how long it takes, we shall prevail and ultimately they will pay a heavy price for their malice, injustice and wickedness.

“These are facts and readers can be rest assured that I will say nothing different from this if and when I am formally asked by anyone or any agency.

“When the EFCC begins to leak their falsehood and salacious allegations to their agents in the media, kindly take note of the fact that, as usual, they will be telling tall tales and they will be lying.

“Now I challenge them to do their worse. I have no fear of them or of those who have sent them to do this dirty job. May God judge them all and may He reward them for their wickedness.

“The suggestion that the money was some kind of “cash bonanza” or “bazaar” as has been reported by the leading pro-government newspaper in the country today is childish and absurd.

“If that had been the case, I doubt that I would have been foolish enough to open a bank account to receive government funds or “bazaar funds” as this would have been easily traced.

“If I had anything to hide or if I was doing anything wrong, I would have insisted on collecting cash for my operations which would have been far easier to conceal.

“The fact that the EFCC gained access to my bank account and leaked details of it to the media, including my inflows, is not only a gross violation of my privacy, but it is also unlawful.”

April 23, 2016
Udenwa, Fani-Kayode, Falae named in alleged N3.1b fraud

Fani-Kayode (N840m), Goodluck Group (N320m), Falae’s firm (100m), Udenwa and Onwuliri (N350m), Nenadi Usman (N36.9m), Okey Ezenwa(N100m)

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has uncovered how N3.145b was paid into the accounts of six chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and Goodluck Support Group (GSG) by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

The beneficiaries include a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu Falae; a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman; a former Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa; a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Viola Onwuliri and Mr. Okey Ezenwa.

According to a source in the anti-graft agency, the cash was paid by the CBN into the account of the Ministry of External Affairs Library, from where it was moved into the account of Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited.

“It was from the Joint Dimension’s account with Zenith Bank that the money was shared to various individuals and organisations for purposes that are not stated,” the source said.

The details of how the money was shared are: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N36.9million);and Okey Ezenwa(N100million).

Giving an insight into how the funds were remitted into the recipients’ accounts, the source said: “Fani-Kayode allegedly received N840million, paid in three tranches into his Zenith Bank, Maitama branch account with No.1004735721.

“The first tranche of N350million hit the account on February 19, 2015; N250milion was also paid into the account on February19, 2015 while N240million was paid on March 19, 2015.

“The balance on this account as at 31st December, 2015 was N189, 402.72.

“The Goodluck Support Group allegedly received N320million

” Chief Falae allegedly received N100m through Marreco Limited, a company where he is chairman. The fund was credited into the company’s United Bank for Africa Plc account No. 1000627022 on March 25, 2014.

“Both Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri got N350million in two tranches. The first tranche of N150million was paid into their joint account with Zenith Bank on January 13, 2015. The second tranche of N200miilion was credited into their account with Diamond Bank.

“Nenadi Usman was paid N36.9billion through her Zenith Bank account no. 1000158311 on 7, Kachia Road, Kaduna. Ezenwa was paid N100million.”

Investigators are probing why the PDP leaders got the cash.

The source said: “Detectives are trying to decipher the motives for the payments.

“But as things stand, the fact that most of the payments were made in the weeks preceding the last presidential election leaves very little to the imagination.”

“One knotty question that confronts the investigators is the figure behind Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited, the account where the fund was warehoused before being wired to the beneficiaries.

“The shadowy figure could help unravel the mystery surrounding the payments, once the veil is lifted.”

March 15, 2016
PDP crisis: I will meet Sheriff in court, says Fani-Kayode

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode yesterday said he was prepared to meet the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), Sen. Modu Ali Sheriff in court over his condemnation of Sheriff’s choice.

Fani- Kayode, who made his position known in a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Jude Ndukwe, said the days of silencing people with threats had gone.

The statement said: ‘’We read the newspaper advert in which Ali Modu Sheriff has threatened to sue Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

“Though we have not received a formal letter from his lawyers to that effect we wish to inform him and members of the public that we have briefed our lawyers, we welcome the suit and we shall gladly meet him in court.

“The days of silencing people with arrogant threats and frivolous litigation are long over. We cannot be silenced by Modu Sheriff’s threat to sue and we are not losing any sleep over it.

“Such a course of action will prove not only to be counter-productive for him but by the time it is all over he will get the shocker of his life’’.

The Forum of ex- PDP Ministers had last week warned Sheriff over recourse to threats against Fani-Kayode.

February 29, 2016
Fani-Kayode welcomes FIRST SON

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, is knowledgeable in a variety of fields. Not only is he a lawyer and a politician, he is also an entrepreneur, writer and a poet. However, after three failed marriages, the man, fondly called FFK, may have struck gold with his latest wife. A new chapter of his life may have been opened with his new woman, Precious Chikwendu, who recently gave birth to a son, interestingly FFK’s first son. And to the relief of Fani-Kayode, mother and baby are said to be doing just fine. Although they are not formally married yet, the two have been living together. Now, the couple is more than glad to have Kayode’s first son. FFK has five other children from previous marriages, all girls. Precious Chikwendu is former Miss Valentine and 2014 Miss United Nations. She is also an actress and a model, popularly known with the alias ‘Snow White,’ because of her very light complexion. Smitten by the former beauty queen, Fani-Kayode is allegedly sparing no expenses in treating her to the best things money can buy. As a measure of his heartfelt love for her, Fani-Kayode recently bought her a very expensive luxury car.

February 6, 2016
Fani-Kayode: Jonathan’s govt bought arms to fight Boko Haram

Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode claimed yesterday that former President Goodluck Jonathan administration did not divert money meant for arms purchase.

The former Director of Media and Publicity insisted that the last administration purchased arms and fought Boko Haram insurgents to a standstill, except not infiltrating the Sambisa forest.

He stated during a Channels TV programme, Sunrise, that the arms purchased were used to reclaim about 22 local government areas captured by the insurgents.

He said: “I don’t think it’s helpful to continue blaming the government on challenges we are facing on the warfront. But it is important for us to come together to support the government in the fight against terror because we are all Nigerians, regardless of what political party you are in.

“This is not the time to cast aspersions, but time for everyone to join efforts to fight this war to ensure that we have a solid victory against Boko Haram.”

According to him, Jonathan administration had to purchase arms with cash because of the arms embargo on the country, which frustrated the former president to buy weapons from the black market.

He added that United Kingdom (UK) and United States (U.S.) governments refused to sell arms to the country.

“The President came out few days ago that no arms were bought by the previous administration. This is a lie. It is not true. If no arms were bought, I wonder how the previous government could have recovered 22 local governments in few months. Arms were used, so to claim that no arms were used is untrue.”

December 31, 2015
Fani-Kayode urges support for government’s anti- terror campaign

The former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Wednesday called for increased support for government’s ongoing campaign against terrorism.

Fani-Kayode said irrespective of the differences, it was important to seek collective efforts on the insurgency, stressing that the fight against terror should not be politicized.

The ex-minister spoke on Channels TV Sunrise Programme monitored by our correspondent in Abuja.

The former Director of Media and Publicity to erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan campaign team, during the 2015 general election, however denied being a member of the last administration.

He said the last administration did not divert money meant for arms purchase.

He also insisted that Jonathan’s administration fought Boko Haram insurgents to a standstill.

Fani-Kayode said the arms purchased were used to reclaim about 22 local government areas captured by insurgents.

He said, “I don’t think it’s helpful to continue blaming the government on challenges we are facing on the war front. But it is important for us to come together to support the government in the fight against terror because we are all Nigerians regardless of what political party you are in.

“This is not the time to cast aspersions but time for everyone to join efforts to fight this war to ensure that we have a solid victory against Boko Haram.”

December 30, 2015
Fani-Kayode, PDP and Buhari’s anti-corruption war

FEMI Fani-Kayode, former presidential spokesman, one-time Aviation minister, and perennial gadfly, is a more refined and intellectual version of Ayo Fayose, Governor of Ekiti State. Both are hysterical, somewhat rabid in their attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari, and contumacious. But Mr. Fani-Kayode, a veritable chip off the old block as any, organises his hysteria along intellectual lines and tries to project a self-assurance anchored deeply in rhetorical exuberance and flagrant and braggart cosmopolitanism. He is widely travelled, everyone knows, and so he boasts. That sets him apart from Mr. Fayose, a governor so unused to the amenities of civilised living and so unaccustomed to both simple etiquette and cultured language that it is a wonder he is in public office. Mr. Fayose’s rural manners and antiquated ideas, in short, help to showcase and invigorate Mr. Fani-Kayode’s modest exposure to modernism, and to expiate his abundant and extravagant wrongdoings.

However, Mr. Fani-Kayode is an incurable political flirt who disguises his unprincipled politics under muted patriotism. It may therefore be difficult to determine whether his fiery rhetoric is nothing but well-scripted play-acting to curry favour with the high and mighty, or whether it is genuine contribution to timely discourse on nation-building. When he exploded on the national scene less than two decades ago, it was first to belabour ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo in truly and despicable terms. Convinced it was preferable to have Mr Fani-Kayode with him than against him, notwithstanding his considerable nuisance, Chief Obasanjo promptly hired the unrelenting gadfly. Promptly, too, Chief Obasanjo, who was himself a novitiate in the country’s democratic experiment, became in the eyes of Mr Fani-Kayode an experienced statesman of practiced skills and instinct.

Then he took on ex-president Goodluck Jonathan and harried him to no end, even offering his services to the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which he later described as a fledgling Islamic party, as proof of the intensity of the damage he could do to his victims. Eventually, the troubled and exasperated Dr Jonathan hired him as a spokesman, a position he occupied to the bitter end of the last presidency. As soon as President Buhari was sworn in, Mr Fani-Kayode unleashed a fusillade of abuse on him rivalled only by the more uncouth Mr Fayose. The former Aviation minister has sustained the barrage, and courted martyrdom gustily, and will continue to embrace both features with gusto except the government can find the ingenuity to harness and redirect his immense talent for abuse and scaremongering.

Here is an example of Mr Fani-Kayode’s recent excursion against President Buhari: “You say you are fighting Boko Haram, yet since you came to power Nigeria has been declared the world’s ‘third most terrorised country’ by the Global Terror Index after Iraq and Afghanistan which were declared first and second respectively whilst Syria and Pakistan were declared fourth and fifth. You say you are a ‘born again democrat’ yet you voted against the protection of human rights at the United Nations alongside Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea.

“You say you respect human rights, yet you barricade Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser, in his home, endanger his life, deny him medical attention, flout court orders and make him critically ill. You say you respect human rights, yet you arrest Governor Boni Haruna simply for standing as surety for Dasuki and you try to force him to abandon his friend.

“You say you respect human rights, yet you raid Governor Attahiru Bafarawa’s home and arrest and detain his son simply because he is friends with Dasuki. You say you respect freedom of speech and human rights, yet you lock up Nnamdi Kanu indefinitely and your security agents shoot two unarmed and harmless pro-Biafra youths to death in Enugu simply because they were involved in a peaceful demonstration.”.

With all the revelations following the $2bn arms scandal and the central role apparently played by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (retd.), it is unclear why Mr. Fani-Kayode overlooks the obvious to continue railing against President Buhari. The former Aviation minister has a one-track mind, one completely inured to reality and apparently to ethics. It was necessary for the state to ask the former NSA for clarifications on the humongous arms deal, explanations he was not too eager to give. The amount involved was huge, and the manner of its sharing provocative and troubling. But Mr. Fani-Kayode sees only abuse of human rights where every patriot, including those not impressed by President Buhari’s handling of the economy so far, sees impunity and recklessness. The point is that there is nothing the president can do to impress Mr Fani-Kayode, for he has made up his mind to oppose the government whether right or wrong. It is his nature, even if the purpose of his political exertions and machinations is not too clear. Perhaps, until someone else hires his services, the angry and messianic Mr. Fani-Kayode will not stop defending the inexpiable policies and actions of his last master, Dr Jonathan. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will conciliate the feisty former Aviation minister and dedicated noisemaker.

It also speaks to the ossification of the PDP and the remorselessness of its leaders that the party’s leading spokesmen and prominent defenders are the hyperbolic Mr. Fani-Kayode and the acerbic Gov. Fayose. The party’s publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, and the acting chairman, Uche Secondus, have been rendered hors de combat. They speak, often when they should, but their voices are strained and weakened by the inappropriateness and effeminacy of what they have to say. Assuredly, they castigate President Buhari, not exaggeratedly and not senselessly, and take diligent and reflective exceptions to the ruling party’s inconsistencies and amateurishness. But they have suffered from acute lack of coordination and focus. Where they should use high-powered rifle with high velocity dum-dum bullets, they have deployed dane guns loaded with pellets needing gunpowder to fuel and oxidise.

In short, the PDP is doing everything but what it should really do. It has refused to do the soul-searching many patriots recommend for its renewal. And it has ignored calls for the retuning of its jaded and impoverished ways of doing things. Shortly after Dr Jonathan led the party to a humiliating defeat, it was time to purge the leadership, almost entirely, of its ineffective apparatchiks. Instead, those leaders have clung desperately to their positions and blatantly resisted the reworking of its ethics as well as its methods. Consequently, ineffective leaders combining with cloned ways of conducting opposition publicity have wrecked the party and drained it of all the energy required to destabilise and damage the bungling and acrimonious APC. Yet, the best time for the PDP to prove itself an effective opposition is now, when the APC is still unsettled. Once the ruling party gets its act together, and revs along in high gear and momentum, the attacks of the ossified opposition will not have more than the impact of a feather duster on the ruling party.

In terms of unnerving the APC, Mr. Fani-Kayode and Gov. Fayose have strangely achieved greater impact than their party. But whatever impact both men achieve nationally will be countermanded by their noisome errantry and appalling excesses and failings. Few Nigerians are sure whether the PDP is capable of the change it requires to become a powerful opposition. In fact, there is talk in many circles of the need to either build a new opposition party or encourage and fund an old party to take on that onerous but desirable task of checkmating the brazenness and abrasiveness of the ruling party. Rather than the PDP to see its electoral losses and reverses as offering it the opportunity for renewal and change, its leaders have embraced noise, delinquency and grandstanding. If they refuse to change they will die. If they leave their future and destiny in the hands of Gov. Fayose and Mr. Fani-Kayode, a fate worse than death awaits them.

December 5, 2015
Femi Fani-Kayode’s fatwa

The recent masturbation by Femi Fani-kayode on the abduction of Chief Olu Falae by Fulani herdsmen would pass as an intervention to none other than narrow-minded individuals whose organ of sight is confined to the two openings above the cheek; for the least sophisticated observer would read what he called “the herdsmen from hell” with a deeper reflection into the man and the message he fought so hard to preach as an advertisement of a systemic and institutional failure that has reduced this nation to one whose penchant for impunity cuts across economic lines and social status – an impunity so gross, great and competitive that as members of the political elite loot our common patrimony in broad daylight without consequences, the hoi polloi in their small enclave replicate their own version in their peculiar ways.

Fani-Kayode’s unfortunate call to “seriously consider the expulsion of all Fulani herdsmen from the southern part of our country” portray him as a rainbow nationalist whose patriotism lie not in the nation whose president he spoke effortlessly to secure another term for but for selfish interests so big and humongous, yet puny and disgusting; for he set out to portray President Muhammadu Buhari in ethnic garb while he failed to see that he was inadvertently sinking in the cesspit he dug for himself.

When he relayed how President Buhari referred to the Fulani herdsmen as “my people,” he sought to distort facts and twist reality by feigning ignorance of the fact that irrespective of how far or close we are to making Nigeria a nation, ours is a nation of nationalities and no one—except the naïve—becomes a better Nigerian by being less Igbo or less Yoruba or, in Buhari’s case, less Fulani.

He tried very hard to hoodwink the Yoruba nation into a mood of self-appraisal when he labeled every person of the Oduduwa descent who desire to have the Fulani’s removed from the south-west as “self-respecting.” He fools himself and shot his toes by the use of that coveted word for neither in word nor action—even in posture-Femi Fani-Kayode lacks the most basic self-respecting feature, the least of the fundamentals of a gentleman, and the comportment that qualifies an individual as a moulder of public opinion.

A macroscopic characteristic of what Malcolm X at the Militant Labour Forum called “that kind,” the stripping of anyone and everyone who rears a cow, cattle or sheep of their Nigerian citizenship by Fani-Kayode is enough to make one begin an enquiry on the law he claimed to have studied for he struggles to understand the basic fact that any Nigerian, irrespective of tongue, accent or status has an inalienable right to feed, sleep, grow and roam without fear or favour in any part of the country.

As a local chief and PDP elder statesman, the tilling of the polity to plant ethnic bile and sectional isolation all in the pretext of a liberation struggle betrays the wisdom which Nigerian youths look up to from men who proclaim sophistication like Fani-Kayode. The call to deracinate ALL Fulani herdsmen who rape and maim innocent citizens ought to be extended to the leaders of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress whose terror-in-trade was at full force in the build up to the 2015 general elections.

Had Fani-Kayode not been a poor student of history, he would have picked a word or two from the encompassing sacrifice of Nelson Mandela and the patriotic strive of the founding fathers of America whose divergent roots became a source of strength to the envisioning of a free society by propelling them to build a nation of inclusiveness irrespective of colour or creed.

Had Fani-Kayode not have been a run-of-the-mill political ranger whose acts of patriotism steer based on who sits on the rocky chair at Abuja, he would have gone back to the classroom to learn about how sectional interests are being championed without undermining of the right of others.

Referring Nigerians to the plight of the people of Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa states in order to place his twisted essay on the door step of legitimacy without a similar call to sanction the various security agencies especially previous Inspector General of Police and state commissioners for negligence of duty shows superficiality and double standard on the part of a supposed elder.

The Fulani herdsmen are also citizens. If they kill or let their animals loose to cause damage on farmlands and properties, it is a sworn duty of the law enforcement agents to intervene. Yes they kill, but how many? Could all of them be murderers to warrant their removal from the south? In fact, the tragic notoriety of some Fulani herdsmen ought to be a major yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of the police. Let the law take its due course when they err. If the call by Femi Fani-Kayode is made to move, the people of the south that reside up in the Sahara would pay with their lives. History is replete with such.

The Fulani herdsmen, just like Femi Fani-Kayode have a right to remain in their fatherland as no citizen becomes less fit to walk, graze or enjoy freedom anywhere in Nigeria save a criminal. It is lawlessness and impunity that need to be expunged from Nigeria, not a rod-wielding taxpayer.

Nigeria has remained the way it is not because it was built on a “satanic foundation” as Fani-Kayode said but because she has allowed herself to be raped by satanic persons. So it’s not the Satan that fed Eve with an apple that is causing our woes, it’s the ones who have built a consensus on our commonwealth – one which the man from Ile-Ife was an integral part of.

Clearly, Femi Fani-Kayode’s lack of access to slush funds from his party has made him invoke Mr. Greene. He’s always done that but Nigerians—witnessing the demystification of governance by the Buhari’s Presidency—expects a modicum of remorse from the man who until a few months ago spoke for continuity.

“Draw attention to yourself by creating an unforgettable, even controversial image,” wrote Robert Greene in the 48 Laws of Power. “Court scandal. Do anything to make yourself seem larger than life and shine more brightly than those around you. Make no distinction between kinds of attention-notoriety of any sort will bring you power. Better to be slandered and attacked than ignored.”

Clearly, the man understood the laws of power better than Greene himself for even the disciple of Machiavelli understands how impracticable a number of his writings are. Had Fani-Kayode consulted Greene before fronting law six, he would have been admonished on the ordinariness of such adventure.

If notoriety had brought power to the likes of FFK, it was because the country had been hitherto run by notorious men. At this hour of moral zenith when Nigerians now wax stronger on the clamour to have their country sanitized, only a buffoon would continue doing things in the manner of old.

When government chicken boys like him venerate his words, correct minds need not look twice to see how feeble a man he is.

The Yoruba leader of antiquity, Oduduwa switched ethnicity the minute Fani-Kayode was sold a chieftaincy title.

With him, sensible Yoruba’s began chanting: “Ilesanmi, Ilesanmi, Ilesanmi…….Odun j’oye lo”

Olaguro writes from Jebba, Kwara State.

October 11, 2015