The United Kingdom has criticised Femi Fani-Kayode, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over controversial comments made during the electoral season.
Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, during an interview with Nigeria Info, a radio station, said the APC presidential campaign spokesman made derogatory remarks.
While marketing Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Presidential candidate of the ruling party who eventually won the election, Fani-Kayode came down hard on other candidates and their parties.
The Department of State Services (DSS) summoned him after he tweeted that Atiku Abubakar, presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had a meeting with some top generals before the elections.
Commenting on the events that shaped the polity in the build-up to the election, Llewellyn-Jones said, “Yes, let’s be specific, there were some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, what is he saying and why is he saying it? I don’t understand.
“It is wrong from my perspective that he will speak on behalf of a party and that party does not distance itself from him and say stop doing that. It is wrong to say that.”
Llewellyn-Jones reiterated the fact that the UK government would issue visa bans to people undermining democracy.
According to him, there are about 10 persons already on the watchlist.
“We have a list, we are working through our list but we don’t publish those names. I know people say we should, but we have laws, and the law prevents us from doing that.
“At the moment the list is between 5 and 10 and it is growing,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has praised British envoy, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, for naming the Director New Media of the Bola Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, among those making inciting comments.
In a statement on Sunday, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, said the Department of State Services (DSS) ought to invite Fani-Kayode as his rhetoric could set the country on fire.
Shaibu maintained that Fani-Kayode’s claim that he would make Nigeria ungovernable if Tinubu is not inaugurated as President on May 29, 2023, was infuriating and is deserving of the attention of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Atiku’s aide, however, noted that the UK Deputy High Commissioner deserves special commendation for pointing out that Fani-Kayode had been making inciting comments and ought to have been cautioned by Tinubu, his boss.
“We acknowledge as timely the statement of the DSS call on politicians not to overheat the polity. But call on the security agency to arrest Fani-Kayode for not heeding the counsel of the DSS when he threatened make Nigeria ungovernable.”
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“The DSS rightly invited Fani-Kayode after he made false claims about Atiku planning a coup back in January and asked him to report daily. But for some reason, he has continued unhinged to spew hate. Recently, he even justified the attacks and the profiling of the Igbo in the recently concluded governorship election in Lagos State. He has also threatened to make the country ungovernable if Tinubu is not sworn in.
“I think it’s a good time to remind the DSS that Femi Fani-Kayode has returned to his old ways. Now, he is threatening fire and brimstone over a most contentious election, which Nigerians have refused to endorse or celebrate one full month after the collective disenfranchisement of the electorate.
“Fani-Kayode is threatening that he and some other desperados will make Nigeria ungovernable if Tinubu is not inaugurated on May 29, 2023. It is time to take in Fani-Kayode so he doesn’t inflame any further, the already combustible national angst.”
Shaibu alleged that the Nigeria Police Force had continued to give Fani-Kayode cover and had been used many times to intimidate people as stated by his staff.
He wondered why, despite an order of the Inspector-General of Police that only those holding political offices should move with police escorts, Fani-Kayode had continued to move with heavy security like a governor.
Atiku’s aide said, “Although Nigeria is grossly under-policed, over 40 percent of its police is attached to VIPs and unauthorised persons. With between 350,000 and 370,000 personnel for a population of 200 million, it cannot meet the United Nations recommendation of 340:100,000 police-to-citizen ratio, rendering it grossly ineffective in fighting crime.
“Yet, Fani-Kayode, who has not held any political office since 2007 when he was Aviation Minister, moves with a siren-blaring convoy. He should immediately be stripped of those security aides, uniformed or otherwise. He only uses the security to sustain that delusion of self-importance. He is posturing with state owned security personnel – that is not even enough for the rest of us.
“The likes of former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, ex-Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo do not enjoy the number of security details FFK has around him and honestly, this is what fuels his feeling of self importance.”
Atiku’s aide added, “Fani-Kayode’s reputation for his volatile and erratic behaviour is legendary. This was a man who publicly threatened a journalist for asking an innocent question. The Nigeria Union of Journalists rightly blacklisted the cantankerous former minister.”
Shaibu called on Nigerians not to take Fani-Kayode seriously.