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Tag: Fani-Kayode

  • Fani-Kayode questions Israel’s identity in new piece

    Fani-Kayode questions Israel’s identity in new piece

    In a new installment of his series on the state of Israel, former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has questioned the identity of the Middle East country.

    In a piece titled ‘Who is this Israel?’ Fani-Kayode opined that “the so-called establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was not the one sanctioned or envisaged by God and the Holy Bible”.

    This, he said, “begs the question, if the Israel of today is not the one envisioned and promised by the Holy Bible then who and what exactly is it and for whose purpose was it established, God’s or Satan’s?

    “Who and what is this boastful, vain, calamitous, and fatherless monstrosity that boastfully flies the Star of David and that has brought so much havoc to the world?

    “Who and what is this strange, arrogant, cantankerous, overbearing, and belligerent entity that falsely lays claim to being a divine resurrection of the Biblical Promise Land but is instead a torment to its neighbours and an ugly scar to the world?

    “These are questions for another day, but what can be said for now and hardly disputed is the following:

    “In view of its racist laws and disposition and the monumental carnage and horror that it has visited on the innocent and defenceless women and children of Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon over the last one year and given the heinous crimes that it has subjected the Palestinians to over the last 76 years, the Israel of today can best be described as a vicious, bestial and callous ethno-supremacist, fascist, apartheid state that has no right to exist.

    Read Also: Fani-Kayode, Akintola, Shafi’I for Aqsa Day

    “It is also a citadel of religious bigotry and extremism and a repugnant and repulsive repository and sewer of the most insidious and vicious form of Zionist propaganda and Jewish proselysation.

    “It is an evil and genocidal entity whose intention is to eliminate and eradicate every single Arab man, woman, and child in the Arab Gulf and all the nations and territories that exist between Egypt and Iran and forcefully occupy their land.

    “If Nazi Germany forfeited the right to exist as a consequence of the Holocaust perpetuated against the Jews before and during World War II, why should Israel not forfeit the same right for doing precisely the same thing to the Palestinians 80 years later?

    •     See the full article on pages 9&10
  • Like South Africa, Palestine ‘ll be free, says Fani-Kayode

    Like South Africa, Palestine ‘ll be free, says Fani-Kayode

    Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has expressed optimism that Palestine will be free like South Africa.

    According to him, many people are rallying behind the Palestinians to be liberated.

    Fani-Kayode spoke during at the Aqsa Day organised by the Muslim Awareness International (MAI) in Lagos.

    He said many people from around the world have begun to speak against the genocide in Palestine, noting it is only a question time for true liberation to come for the people of Palestine.

    He said: “It is incumbent upon those of us that are so decent-minded and fear God to rise up and speak against this evil. And that’s happening all over the world; many people are speaking out. This is the way the world once spoke against apartheid in South Africa. It is only a question of time before true liberation come to the people of Palestine and Palestine will be free.

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    “Whether you are a Christian or Muslim, you have a right and duty to speak up for the people of Palestine, to remember that children are being killed on a daily basis, and to resist the evil zionist state that is predicated on apartheid and believes everybody else should be destroyed.”

    Founder and Executive Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Prof. Lakin Akintola, called on the Federal Government to withdraw its Ambassador to Israel in protest of the several violations of resolutions of the United Nations (UN) by Israel.

    Akintola said no African nation would be condoned violating the UN resolutions as Israel has done.

    He said: “UN resolutions are no longer relevant as far as Israel is concerned. Israel violates UN resolution at will. Let an African nation do half of what Israel has done to the United Nations’ resolutions, and it will see fire. It will be threatened with boycott and sanctions. It is only African nations and Arab nations, Muslim countries that are victims of UN sanctions, victims of Western economic anger, military sanctions. It is the subjugation of the weak by the strong.”

  • Fani-Kayode warns against nationwide protest

    Fani-Kayode warns against nationwide protest

    Former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has warned against the nationwide protest scheduled to begin on August 1.

    In a statement in Lagos on Friday, the lawyer and former Minister of Culture and Tourism said that while there is nothing wrong with a peaceful demonstration and a lawful legitimate protest, the brains behind it are out to cause panic, fear, chaos and mass unrest with the ultimate motive of truncating democratic rule.

     Fani-Kayode said: “There is nothing wrong with a peaceful demonstration and a lawful legitimate protest.

    “What is unacceptable is a premeditated attempt by a group of faceless individuals who are on the payroll of subversive elements to destabilise the country and incite people to violence and carnage.

    “That is what this so-called #nationwidestrike that they have labelled as the #endbadgovernanceprotest is all about. 

    “Worse still, there is a covert and subterranean attempt to provoke the security forces to open mutiny and rebellion against constituted authority and thereby truncate our democracy. 

    “Those that are behind it are attempting to take advantage of the undoubtedly enormous economic challenges in the land to create panic, fear, chaos and mass unrest with a view to provoking anarchy, mayhem and armed insurrection.

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    “This is unacceptable and no responsible government will sit back and allow it to happen. 

    “I urge those that are behind this surreptitious, subterranean and sinister subterfuge to have a rethink and not spark off a reaction from the security forces that they will later regret. 

    “We do not want or need a nationwide #endsars-like round of protests and neither can we afford the attendant violence, strife, division, damage to property and bloodshed that comes with it. 

    “The way forward is to put off the protest, exercise patience, enter dialogue with the Federal Government and express our collective concerns in a lawful, restrained, responsible and legitimate manner. 

    “Anything outside of that will be dangerous and counter-productive.”

  • Samoa agreement: Tinubu govt won’t endorse sodomy -Fani-Kayode

    Samoa agreement: Tinubu govt won’t endorse sodomy -Fani-Kayode

    The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, is my friend and brother and I have known him for many years. He is not a liar or a propagandist: he is a man of honor and conviction and I have the deepest respect for him.

     He has spoken extensively on the Samoa issue and assured Nigerians that there is no provision in the agreement that requires favourable consideration or concessions for same sex marriages or gay men and gay women. His word is enough for me and I believe him. 

    The evil that has overwhelmed Europe and the West when it comes to sodomy and ungodly and unnatural sexual relations and marriages between people of the same sex or between people and animals shall not enter Nigeria. Neither do I believe that the Tinubu administration or indeed anyone in our political class or ruling political elite would tolerate it. 

    Read Also: 11 Americans discover Nigerian roots at New York ancestry DNA event

    We are a nation under God and a people that adhere strictly to Christian and Muslim values. Unlike others we are not a nation of closet satanists and devil worshippers and we have not lost our ability to determine what is godly and ungodly. 

    We will NEVER legitimise or allow the scourge of state-sponsored sodomy, same sex marriage or bestiality in our country and neither will we bow to the will of the western powers when it comes to this matter. We may have many challenges and we may not have their money or power but what we do have is our faith and our God. 

    He is greater than all and He shall never leave or forsake us. We are a blessed people and, unlike them, we are not accursed. We will not walk the path of perdition. We will not throw away our religious beliefs and values for favour or filthy lucre. We will not tread the path of the enemies of God.

  • Why military coup is no option in Nigeria —Fani-Kayode

    Why military coup is no option in Nigeria —Fani-Kayode

    • Says panic measures against military won’t save sit-tight African leaders

    Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode decried the calls for military coup in some quarters, saying it is not an option in Nigeria.

    In a piece titled ‘When Rebellion is a Virtue’, the former Minister of Culture and Tourism also berated African sit-tight leaders, saying that panic measures against the military in their respective countries would not guarantee their continuous stay in power.

    “I wholeheartedly oppose the agenda of coup plotters, rebels and subversives in Nigeria,” he said. “In the case of our country, rebellion is a curse and not a virtue.

    “I do not believe that a coup is desirable or appropriate here simply because, firstly, our government does not seek to discourage, muzzle, stifle or crush dissent or legitimate and lawful criticism and opposition and, secondly, because we are not burdened with a sit-tight and insane ruler who seeks to remove term limits from our constitution and impose a vicious and corrupt family dynasty and civilian dictatorship on our nation and people.”

    The APC stalwart, on the other hand, was unsparing in his condemnation of the actions of sit-tight rulers like President Paul Kaigame of Rwanda and President Paul Biya of Cameroon who he noted have ruled their countries for 23 and 42 years respectively.

    Read Also: Gabon reopens borders three days after military coup

    He said: “Approximately one week ago, they were both constrained to sack, retire, redeploy and replace much of their military high command, senior army commanders and thousands of commissioned and non-commissioned officers in the light of the wave of military coups that have swept West and Central Africa and just one day after the one that took place in Gabon.

    “This was clearly a panic measure on both their parts. They did it out of rabid fear and in a desperate attempt to thwart, pre-empt and prevent a military coup and stave off an anticipated mutiny in their respective Armed Forces.

    “Unfortunately for them, such peripheral and ineffectual remedies and desperate attempts to ward off all opposition and dissent in an attempt to hold on to power forever will not work because their so-called mandates lack legitimacy and they do not have the backing of the people.”

    .See full text on Pages 8 &9

  • Fani-Kayode seeks end to power cut in Niger Republic

    Fani-Kayode seeks end to power cut in Niger Republic

    .Says Nigerien babies are dying

    Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has called for an end to the power-cut sanction imposed by Nigeria on Niger Republic following the military coup that ousted the country’s elected president.

    In a piece titled ‘Does Killing Nigerien Babies Bring Glory to Our Name?’ Fani-Kayode lamented reported deaths of innocent babies and other humanitarian issues resulting from Nigeria’s decision to stop the supply of electricity to the country.

    Relying on reports that about 40 babies are dying daily in the crisis-ridden country because hospitals are unable to power their incubators and other life supporting equipment, the former Minister of Culture and Tourism wondered how Nigeria could “inflict such damage and unleash such wickedness and misfortune on innocent people who live just across the border from us and who are essentially our people too.

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    “This is unacceptable and especially so given the fact that we are not at war with Niger and the overwhelming majority of our people regard them as our brothers.”

    He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is currently the Chairman of ECOWAS to reverse the policy and allow the country to continue to supply electricity to the Niger Republic.

    “This is all the more so, given the fact that cutting off electricity to that nation is bringing death, suffering and hardship more to the women and children than to their government officials and members of the newly-installed military junta.

    .See full text on Page 10 Does killing Nigerien babies bring glory to our name?

  • Fani-Kayode, Usman’s money laundering trial stalled again

    The trial of a former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and his finance (state) counterpart Mrs Nenadi Usman was stalled at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday.

    Mrs. Usman’s lawyers, Chief Ferdinand Orbih and Abiodun Owonikoko, both SANs, were absent.

    The case therefore could not go on despite the presence of Fani-Kayode’s lawyer Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN).

    Little progress has been made in the case since Usman filed an application last June seeking to summon Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed for publishing her name as an alleged looter.

    She initiated contempt proceedings against Mohammed after he released her name as one of the looters of the treasury.

    Read Also: Court restrains EFCC, Police from arresting Fani-Kayode, Odumakin

    Dismissing the application, Justice Rilwan Aikawa held that the contempt proceedings were a distraction capable of interfering with the trial.

    The judge held that the publication of Usman’s name as an alleged looter was not prejudicial to her case.

    He therefore dismissed the application for lacking in merit.

    The EFCC arraigned Mrs Usman and Fani-Kayode for alleged N4.6billion fraud, to which they pleaded not guilty.

    The former ministers were charged along with former Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) and ex-Chairman of Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State Mr. Yusuf Danjuma and a company, Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Limited.

    The four were also accused of violating the Money Laundering Act by indirectly retaining N300million, N400million and N800million, all proceeds of corruption, according to EFCC.

    The prosecution said they allegedly committed the offence between January 8 and March 25, 2015 ahead of the general election.

    The case was also stalled last June 5 when reportedly Danjuma slumped while having a bath and was hospitalised.

    Trial was billed to resume that day, but Danjuma, a former Chairman of Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was absent.

    His lawyer K.C Nwofo told the court that he received a call from Danjuma’s wife that the third defendant collapsed in the bathroom.

    Due to the absence of Usman’s lawyers on Thursday, Justice Aikawa adjourned until February 4 and 5 for trial.

  • Breaking: Court restrains EFCC, Police from arresting Fani-Kayode, Odumakin

    An Abuja Federal High Court, has restrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police from arresting or detaining Femi Fani-Kayode and Yinka Odumakin.

    Justice John Tsoho, gave the order on Monday, following an ex parte application argued by Mr Chukwuma Machukwu-Ume (SAN) on behalf of the duo.

    Machukwu-Ume told the court that the three security agencies were planning to arrest and detain his clients over comments they made with regard to the travails of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    “The spokesman of the EFCC, Mr Tony Orilede, was alleged to have made the threat to arrest them publicly at a conference where he represented the EFCC chairman.

    Read Also: Court restates order stopping CCT from forcing CJN to vacate office

    “He said they are doing everything possible to arrest these two gentlemen just for speaking their minds.

    “The EFCC is established to pursue corruption and not comments made by Nigerians, expressing themselves,” he said.

    The lawyer told the court that his clients had gone into hiding for fear of being arrested for merely expressing their freedom of speech, alleging that their family lives had also been affected by the alleged threat.

    Machukwu-Ume told the court that the application was brought pursuant to Section 6 (6)(b) and Section 46 of the 1999 Constitution as well as Order 4 Rules 3 of the Fundamental Rights Procedure Rules.

    He urged the court to grant the order restraining the respondents from arresting and detaining his clients pending the determination of the application on notice.

    Justice Tsoho said that he was satisfied that the applicants had made a case that their lives were being threatened.

    “I am satisfied that the applicants have made out a case for the court’s intervention.
    “Accordingly, the respondents are restrained from either arresting or detaining the applicants on grounds of the applicants’ public statements pending the determination of the application on notice,” the judge ruled.

    The Judge adjourned the matter until Feb. 4.

  • Fani-Kayode, Odumakin sue EFCC for N20m over planned arrest

    A FORMER Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and Afenifere Renewal Group Publicity Secretary Yinka Odumakin have sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged plan to arrest them.

    They joined the Department of State Services and the Police in the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    The applicants, through their lawyer Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume (SAN), are praying the court to stop the respondents from arresting them over alleged false information they spread.

    They are demanding N20 million “as damages for the unlawful threat to arrest the applicants”.

    Fani-Kayode had claimed that EFCC operatives surrounded Chief Justice Onnoghen’s home. Odumakin shared a video to that effect. Fani-Kayode later retracted the publication, saying his sources misinformed him.

    The applicants are praying for a declaration that the respondents’ public declaration to arrest them on the basis of spreading false rumours is an infringement of their fundamental rights as enshrined in Section 34 (a), 35 (1) (4) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution.

    They said the threat to falsely imprison their liberty, safety, peace and security is a breach of their rights.

    Fani-Kayode and Odumakin prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from harassing, arresting or detaining them.

    They are praying for the enforcement of their fundamental rights and an order stopping the respondents from threatening them with unlawful arrest.

    The applicants prayed for an order compelling the respondents to tender an unreserved apology to them for the infringement of their fundamental rights and for “describing them in demeaning manners”.

    In a verifying affidavit in support of the application, the deponent Rev. Emmanuel Olorunmagbe, said he was at the Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN) conference on Wednesday when EFCC’s spokesman Tony Oriade threatened to arrest the applicants.

    “He stated openly that while the first applicant tweeted that the EFCC wanted to arrest the CJN, the second applicant released a video on it, and that two of them will be invited and if they fail to turn up within 48 hours, they will be arrested,” the deponent said.

    The applicants said they and their families are living in fear  “as to what might happen if these respondents are not restrained by the court, coupled with their state of health.”

     

  • Court okays suit seeking trial of Senator, Fani-Kayode, over Kanu’s disappearance

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has given permission for the commencement of a suit seeking to compel the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to investigate and prosecute former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe and others over their alleged involvement in how Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) escaped from the country.

    Justice John Tsoho gave the permission yesterday after listening to applicant’s lawyer, Oghenovo Otemu, who moved a motion ex-parte for leave to commence an action for order of mandamus.

    The judge said he was convinced that the applicant, Isaiah Ayugu, could proceed to properly apply for the order sought.

    Justice Tsoho ordered Ayugu to file a motion on notice to that effect and serve the respondents before the next date of November 22 this year.

    Ayugu, in the ex-parte motion, said he was concerned about the turn of event and the damage the scandal about Kanu’s disappearance and the claim that the Nigerian sate was responsible have had on the nation’s image both at home and abroad.

    He listed the Director General of the SSS, the SSS, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the NPF as respondents in suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1254/18.

    Ayugu argued that by recent revelation that Kanu was in Israel, it was evident that Fani-Kayode, Abaribe, Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and others, who had accused the Nigerian Army of being behind Kanu’s disappearance, knew about the IPOB leader’s escape from Nigeria.

    The plaintiff stated, in a supporting affidavit, “that the said Nnamdi Kanu, the so called self-acclaimed leader of IPOB, the group that has long been proscribed and designated a terrorist group, is alive and was seen in Israel from where he called a world press conference and made a live broadcast of his new and renewed agenda for his group.

    “In the broadcast, Kanu boasted that he will bring ‘hell to Nigeria.’ It is therefore clear that whilst Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Tochukwu Uchendu, Emmanuel Shallow Ben, Emmanuel Kanu, Uchechi Kanu, leaders of Afaraukwu community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, the different civil liberty organisations and media practitioners and so many others too numerous to mention were making several dangerous claims that Nnamdi Kanu has been killed, abducted or being held by the Army, they were aware that he was actually out of the country, by their collective or respective assistance, from where he resurfaced in video clips of him praying in Israel and subsequent video broadcast.

    “Because Senator Abaribe took Nnamdi Kanu on bail, the case against Nnamdi Kanu has not seen the light of the day as Nnamdi Kanu has now jumped bail.”

    The plaintiff said he intended to apply for an order of mandamus mandating the respondents “to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu from Nigeria when, in fact, the Nigerian Army was accused of abducting, arresting, kidnapping, killing and assassinating him.

    “An order mandating the respondents to prosecute all persons suspected or indicted of involvement in aiding Nnamdi Kanu to evade justice.

    “An order mandating the respondents to investigate and prosecute Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, Femi Fani-Kayode, Tochukwu Uchendu, Emmanuel Shallow Ben, Emmanuel Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and all those who worked together to propagate and spread the inciting lies and falsehood that Nnamdi Kanu was abducted, arrested, kidnapped, detained, killed and assassinated by the Nigerian military, when indeed they were well aware of Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts, because they played roles in helping Nnamdi Kanu disappear from Nigeria.”