The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fani-Kayode

  • Fani-Kayode visits Jonathan at Villa

    The former Minister of Aviation and a major critic of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Chief Femi Fani-Koyode Tuesday met with the President behind closed-doors at the Presidential Villa.

    At the end of the visit, he declined to give details of his discussions with the President while speaking with State House correspondents.

    He said: “This is a presidential villa, the president is a president of Nigeria. Every single person in this country that is a Nigerian is entitled to come here from time to time, when the doors are open to come and pay their respect to the wonderful people that are here. As a Nigerian I have done that today and I’m delighted to be here.”

    On his description of the president, he said: “I have always believed that every Nigerian regardless of the side of the political divide they belong, and as a Nigerian myself I have believed that we disagree on an issue from time to time the most important thing is for us to be able to resolve these issues come together to move this country forward.”

    “And I think every right thinking  responsible person should be able to do that. They should also be able to come to the villa from  time to time and see how they can help to move the country forward,” he said

    When asked to speak on what he discussed with the President, he said: “I won’t go into that.”

    On whether he is leaving the All Progressives Congress (APC), he said: “The step that I will take will be made known to Nigerians at the right time. The most important thing and I think you are fully aware of this is that I cannot and I will not be associated with a situation whereby any group of people is promoting a religion above another.”

    “I think all of us have gone past the stage of  religious politics in this country. We must treat the Muslim community with utmost respect and we must treat Christian community in the same way and even the non-religious,” he added

     

  • Fani-Kayode: No fund missing, says EFCC witness

    Fani-Kayode: No fund missing, says EFCC witness

    An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that the commission’s investigation revealed no fund was missing during the tenure of Femi Fani-Kayode as Aviation Minister.

    Bashir Abdullahi, who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) spoke under cross examination by defence lawyer Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN).

    He told Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia that he was assigned the case file in 2008 for investigation and a letter was written to the First Inland Bank to produce Fani-Kayode’s bank statement which was deposited with the EFCC.

    The witness said that during investigations, the former minister was invited to the EFCC, where he made various statements in writing relating to the Aviation Intervention Fund (AIF) received during his tenure.

    He said that Fani-Kayode on assumption of office set up a committee to probe the disbursement of the AIF made by his predecessor.

    He told the court that investigations revealed that no part of the funds was missing during the tenure of the former minister.

    “Our investigations revealed that a total of N19.5 billion was released as Aviation Intervention Fund, out of which a total of N8.5 billion was released during the tenure of Prof. Femi Aborishade, the predecessor.

    “During the tenure of the accused, the sum of N11 billion was released and out of this sum, the accused disbursed a total of N3.8 billion, leaving a remainder of N7.2 billion in the Ministry’s account.

    “Investigations also revealed that no part of the Aviation fund was missing during the tenure of the accused, and there was also no findings that the accused made any disbursement without due process”, said Abdullahi.

    Following the findings of the committee, the witness said a report was sent to the National Security Adviser (NSA) on the disbursements.

    However, prosecuting lawyer Festus Keyamo did not re-examine the witness but prayed the court for two adjournments to enable him produce his remaining witnesses.

    Subsequently, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia adjourned the case to April 16 and 17 for continuation of trial.

    Fani-Kayode is standing trial over a 40-count charge of money laundering preferred against him by the EFCC, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

    He was alleged to have transacted with funds exceeding the threshold stipulated by the Money Laundering Act, without going through a Financial Institution.

    The EFCC alleged that the former minister accepted cash payments in the tune of about N100 million, while he held sway as Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism respectively.

  • Fani-Kayode: No formal report made, witness tells court

    Fani-Kayode: No formal report made, witness tells court

    A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday heard that no formal report was made to any authority on the alleged financial transactions of former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.

    Prosecution witness, Elonna Ezelo, told the Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia- presided court that the accused first maintained an account with First Atlantic Bank Plc, which later transformed from First Inland Bank Plc to Finbank Plc and now First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

    Fani-Kayode is standing trial on an amended 40-count charge bordering on money laundering.

    Ezelo, a Legal Officer with the FCMB, led in evidence by prosecuting Festus Keyamo, told the court that he collated the statements of account of the accused, which revealed transactions involving cash, cheques, draft and transfers.

    Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia adjourned the case till March 19 for continuation of trial.

     

    According to the witness, between July 2006 and January 2007, there were four deposit transactions captured in the accused’s statement of account as follows: N660,000, N6million, N10. 9 million and N3.3 million.

    But under cross-examination by defence counsel, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the witness told the court that no formal report was made by the bank to any authority, in relation to the statement of account of the accused.

     

  • Money laundering: Court directs Fani-Kayode to take his plea

    Money laundering: Court directs Fani-Kayode to take his plea

    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday directed a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, to take his plea in the money laundering charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Ruling on an objection raised by his lawyer Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the judge said the charge is valid.

    Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia fixed March 5 for Fani-Kayode’s re-arraignment on an amended 40-count charges.

    Adedipe had raised the objection when EFCC prosecutor Mr. Festus Keyamo, sought to re-arraign the former minister.

    After count-one was read, Adedipe said the charge was invalid as the facts were incomplete.

    The charge, he said, stated that Fani-Kayode “accepted cash payments”, but did not specify who gave him the money.

    Adedipe said his objection was based on Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

    “The accused person is alleged to have received money from a nameless, anonymous person. We have to know the person so we can know who to address. As it is, the charge is vague.

    “They alleged that he ‘accepted’. When you accuse somebody of accepting money, clearly the person from whom the money was accepted becomes important.

    “The other charges there… one of them accused him of having his wife pay money into his account. These charges cannot be valid,” he said.

    But Keyamo said the argument that the giver of the money in a charge of money laundering must be disclosed makes utter nonsense of the very essence of the law prohibiting money laundering.

    This, he said, is because money laundering is a crime that seeks to obliterate the very source of large sums of money found on people.

    “It, therefore, follows that the concealment of the giver of the money which is subject to investigation by an accused person cannot defeat a charge of money laundering.

    “If we accept the argument of defence, it means that all an accused person can do to defeat the effort of the prosecution is to refuse to disclose from where he derives any large sum of money found on him.

    “That will be preposterous and will defeat the object of the law,” Keyamo argued.

     

  • Court reserves ruling on charge against Fani-Kayode

    Court reserves ruling on charge against Fani-Kayode

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday fixed February 10 for ruling on the competence of a criminal charge brought Femi Fani-Kayode, charged with money laundering.

    Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, is standing trial on an amended 47-count charge bordering on money laundering.

    When the case was called on Monday, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia said she would deliver her ruling on a future date because counsel in the suit had filed their written submissions out of time.

    The judge said she required time to rule on the issue and fixed February 10.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the last adjourned date on January 27, the prosecutor, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had informed the court of an amended charge, containing 40 counts and applied that the plea of the accused be taken.

    After count-one was read to the accused, his counsel, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), raised an objection, arguing that the accused could plead to the charge since it was invalid.

    Adedipe argued that count one stated that the accused, “accepted cash payments of over N10 million,” without stating the donor of the said money.

    He stated that it was alleged throughout the charge, that the accused “accepted various sums of money, without mentioning the names of the person from whom the monies were received.

    Adedipe therefore, submitted that the charge was invalid, “persecutory and oppressive.”

     

  • EFCC files amended charge against Fani-Kayode

    EFCC files amended charge against Fani-Kayode

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday filed an amended money laundering charge against a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, at a Federal High Court in Lagos.
    At the resumed hearing of the case, the Prosecutor, Mr. Festus Keyamo, informed the court of the amended charge containing 40 counts and applied that the plea of the accused be taken.
    After first count was read to the accused, his counsel, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), raised an objection that the charge was invalid and his client could not plead to it.
    Adedipe argued that the count stated that the accused “accepted cash payments of over N10 million,” without stating the donor of the said money.
    He said it was alleged throughout the charge that the accused “accepted various sums of money,” without mentioning the names of the persons from whom they were received.
    The counsel submitted that the charge was “invalid, persecutory and oppressive.”
    Keyamo, in response, argued that the charge bordered on money laundering in which monies involved had no source as opposed to conversion or stealing where there was a particular source.
    He submitted that he was prepared to file a written address on the issue.
    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, in a short ruling, said that both parties were at liberty to either file written addresses or address the court orally on the issue.
    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that she adjourned the case to February 3 for ruling.
    .

  • PDP about to collapse, says Fani-Kayode

    PDP about to collapse, says Fani-Kayode

    Former Aviation Minister during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration is on the brink of collapse.

    Fani-Kayode, who spoke yesterday in Kano, explained that he defected from the party about seven months ago to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The former minister said he preferred the APC, which he described as a progressive party, to “sinking with the PDP”.

    He said the ruling party at the centre had lost focus.

    Fani-Kayode also challenged Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, to explain where he was on the day Obasanjo sent his controversial letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The former minister said Al-Mustapha’s response to Obasanjo’a alleged allusion to the former CSO was out of place because he and Obasanjo were not of the same rank.

    According to him, the former CSO should have sent his response to Obasanjo’s alleged indictment on the sniper allegation to one of the ex-President’s workers, because the former President was too busy.

    Fani-Kayode added that Al-Mustapha should be concentrating on answering questions raised in Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan instead of challenging the former President.

    Addressing reporters yesterday at the Kano Government House, the former minister said Obasanjo had better things to do than take up Al-Mustapha’s challenge to a public debate.

    He said: “There are issues that Al-Mustapha ought to have addressed. They include his whereabouts on the day Obasanjo’s letter was made public. Perhaps Al-Mustapha should have told the public where he was when the letter was made public.

    “Is there any truth in the assertion that he was in North Korea to consult with his old friends who were deeply involved with him during the Sani Abacha regime, when they were organising a killer squad? If that wasn’t what he was doing, then was he sightseeing there? I am asking these questions and the public is also keen on wanting to know the truth…”

  • Aviation Minister lashes Fani-Kayode

    Aviation Minister lashes Fani-Kayode

    The Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, yesterday berated a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, for asking her to resign.

    Ms Oduah said the former minister should bury his head in shame.

    The minister decried Fani-Kayode’s utterances and write-ups on the Aviation sector.

    She noted that his statements were false and capable of misleading the public.

    Ms Oduah spoke yesterday in Abuja at the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Africa Conference, organised in partnership with the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

    The event was tagged: Transforming ATM Performance.

    Ms Oduah said: “People like him, ignorant people in particular, I have huge sympathy for them, because when you speak out of context, when you speak under the influence of whatever you are under, you speak incorrectly and mislead innocent Nigerians. That is what he has done and, really, should bury his head in shame.”

    The former minister, in an article, attributed the spate of air crashes in the country to spiritual problems, which he said could only be salvaged by the ‘grace of God’.

    But Ms Oduah restated her commitment to the safety of the aviation sector.

    She noted that despite the sad occurrence, the nation’s Aviation sector was still put at 60 per cent, based on the rating standard of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

    The minister said the Federal Government had been supporting the ministry to upgrade infrastructure in the sector, adding that it was wrong to use ‘beer parlour’ statement as the benchmark for safety in the sector.

    Ms Oduah said: “Safety is always and constantly prioritised and literarily. There is no alternative to safety. Everything in aviation is safety-driven. I have this opportunity to assure Nigerians that the Nigerian airspace is very safe.”

    On the essence of the conference, she said its objective was to integrate aviation safety in Africa, especially in Nigeria.

    “We have upgraded the infrastructure; we are constantly upgrading infrastructure. We are putting the policies in place to ensure that infrastructure is very well driven, but most importantly, the training and retraining. So, the Nigerian airspace is one of the best. The ICAO actually graded us one of the best, above 60 per cent. It’s not only that but also among the 12 global airspace nations which are very safe.

  • Aviation minister to Fani-Kayode: Bow your head in shame

    Aviation minister to Fani-Kayode: Bow your head in shame

    The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah , on Tuesday berated a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Fani-Kayode, on his utterances on the sector, asking him to bow his head in shame.

    She said the ex-minister’s comments on the aviation sector were capable of misleading the public.

    Oduah spoke at the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization Conference organized in partnership with the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), in Abuja.

    The event was tagged:  “Transforming ATM Performance.”

    Oduah said: “When you see ignorant people in particular, I have sympathy for them. This is because when you speak out of context, when you speak under whatever influence you are under, you speak incorrectly and mislead innocent Nigerians. That is what he has done. He should hide his head in shame.”

    The minister restated her commitment to safety in the aviation sector.

  • Fani-Kayode can’t blackmail PDP

    Fani-Kayode can’t blackmail PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party has warned the former Aviation Minister,Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, to stop his campaign of blackmail and calmuny

    against the party. The party described the former minister’s comments in the wake of the recent plane crash as a reckless and scandalous remark unbecoming of a public figure.

    PDP said in a statement by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr Abdullahi Jalo, that “it was unbecoming of a man that uses every opportunity to sermonise on virtues of his faith to employ the occasion of any air mishap to vaunt an un-existing legacy as former aviation minister”.

    Noting that Fani-Kayode is a former member of the Federal Executive Council, the party official said he is “a physician that could not heal himself”.

    He stressed: “In six months that Femi was minister, he posted an enviable record in tribalism and nepotism, when he employed a record 45 managers for different parastatals under the Aviation Ministry from his native Osun State. He went further to retire many officers of the director cadre, replacing them with incompetent cronies.

    “Nigerians have not forgotten the suspension of the Managing Director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Alhaji Yusuf, by Femi for refusing to illegally extend the concessioning of the Murtala Mohammed (local ) to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services from 12 to 46 years. Though presidential orders restored Alhaji Yusuf to his position, it did not prevent Femi who unilaterally, without presidential approval, granted the extension.”

    But Fani-Kayode denied the allegation of blackmail, saying that he was devoted to the cause of truth.

    He added: “I would advise the PDP to concentrate on trying to get their Minister of Aviation to save lives and protect our skies and to look into the very serious concerns that most Nigerians have raised about air safety in our country today rather than spend their time spreading children and fanciful tales about me.”