A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has confirmed his reassignment as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to South Africa, dismissing claims that German authorities rejected his posting to their country.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier posted Fani-Kayode as Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany. However, in a statement on Thursday, the former minister said he requested to be posted to South Africa instead.
“It gives me pleasure to announce the fact that Mr. President has graciously approved my posting as Nigeria’s Ambassador-Designate to South Africa,” he wrote.
He explained that his decision to request another posting was because “I was not comfortable with Germany for a number of personal reasons” and that he had “lived in Europe most of my life”.
“I also expressed the fact that I would rather serve in a country that shares some of my convictions, beliefs, 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,” he said.
“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.”
FFK, as he is also known, thanked President Tinubu and Yusuf Tuggar and “for this favourable consideration”.
“I also take this opportunity to thank Senator Sam Enang, who was originally posted to South Africa and who was pleased to go to Germany instead, to agree for a straight swap,” he said.
There were reports that Fani-Kayode was rejected after his initial posting to Germany, following comments he made in the past that were deemed inflammatory.
But the ambassador-designate said the reports were “a total and complete fabrication based on hearsay, beer parlour talk and cheap gossip and designed to embarrass 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,” he said, threatening legal action against those behind it.
The post Fani-Kayode Reassigned As South Africa Ambassador Designate, Dismisses Germany Rejection Claims appeared first on Channels Television.
