Former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has announced that he has been reassigned as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to South Africa after initially being posted to Germany.
The former minister confirmed the development on Thursday, stating that President Bola Tinubu approved the change following his request for redeployment.
According to him, he informed the former minister of foreign affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, that he was not comfortable with the Germany posting for personal reasons.
Fani-Kayode explained that, having spent much of his life in Europe, he preferred to serve in South Africa, a country he had never visited but had always been interested in.
“I was not comfortable with Germany for a number of personal reasons and given the fact that I had lived in Europe most of my life I would prefer to go to South Africa which is a country that I had never been to and for which I have so much interest,” he said.
“I also expressed the fact that I would rather serve in a country that shares some of my convictions, beilefs and values when it comes to world affairs, that has the biggest economy in Africa, that has closer ties to Nigeria and that is more proximate to my political thinking when it comes to foreign affairs and a pan African vision.
“I therefore made an application for a redeployment to South Africa two days after the initial announcement was made and I am pleased to say that after the then Foreign Minister (H.E. Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar) heard my reasons he considered them favourably after which he conveyed the request to Mr. President who graciously approved it.
“I will be eternally grateful to Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for this favourable consideration.”
Following the reshuffle, Ita Enang, who had earlier been assigned to South Africa, will now serve as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Germany.
Earlier in March, President Tinubu approved the appointment of more than 60 ambassadors, including Fani-Kayode, and assigned them to different countries.
Shortly after the announcement, reports emerged claiming that Germany rejected Fani-Kayode’s nomination because of his controversial public statements and political comments.
The reports alleged that German authorities considered some of his past remarks divisive and unsuitable for diplomatic representation.
The claims surfaced days after Fani-Kayode was reportedly involved in a disagreement with the United Kingdom’s high commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, during a Ramadan dinner hosted in Abuja.
However, Fani-Kayode denied the reports that Germany rejected him, describing the claims as false, misleading and deliberately aimed at damaging his reputation as well as embarrassing the Nigerian government.
“I take this opportunity to once again confirm that this was my choice and that Germany NEVER formally rejected me, which was a fake report that was published in an irresponsible online magazine that thrives on sensationslism, lies and blackmail,” he said.
“Their story was not only irresponsible and insulting but was also a total and complete fabrication based on hearsay, beer parlour talk and cheap gossip and designed to embarass my goodself, the Federal Government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Worse still they listed a number of clearly outlandish and absurd reasons for this purported and fake ‘rejection’ which they patched together and concocted reflecting the malevolent condition of their perverse imagination.”
Fani-Kayode added that the reports appeared around the same time diplomatic documents relating to his South Africa posting were allegedly leaked.
He said he has instructed his lawyers to begin legal action against the newspaper involved, including filing a defamation lawsuit.
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