By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has announced that President Bola Tinubu has approved his deployment as Nigeria’s Ambassador-Designate to South Africa following his request for a redeployment from Germany.
Fani-Kayode disclosed this in a statement posted on his official social media account on Thursday, where he explained that he personally sought the redeployment for “personal reasons” and denied reports claiming that Germany rejected his diplomatic posting.
According to him, he had initially been posted to Germany but later approached the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, requesting to be reassigned to South Africa instead.
The former minister said his decision was influenced by his desire to serve in an African country that aligns more closely with his political and ideological views on Pan-Africanism and foreign affairs.
“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 stated.
Fani-Kayode added that Tuggar considered his request favourably before forwarding it to President Tinubu, who subsequently approved the redeployment.
He also thanked Sam Enang, who was initially posted to South Africa, for agreeing to a “straight swap” that eventually saw Enang redeployed to Germany.
The former minister strongly dismissed reports suggesting that Germany rejected his nomination, describing the claims as false, malicious and defamatory.
“Germany never rejected me,” he stated emphatically, accusing an unnamed online publication of spreading fabricated stories designed to damage his reputation and embarrass the Federal Government.
According to him, the publication relied on “hearsay, beer parlour talk and cheap gossip” in publishing the report.
Fani-Kayode further disclosed that petitions had already been submitted to relevant security agencies against those behind the publication, while his legal team had also been instructed to commence civil defamation proceedings.
He alleged that the controversial report emerged after details of a diplomatic agreement sent to South Africa by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 13 were leaked.
The former minister maintained that there was no official document or evidence showing that Germany rejected him and challenged those behind the report to provide proof of such a claim.
“This never happened and I urge the media to be far more circumspect with such reports,” he said.
Fani-Kayode, who described South Africa as a country he admires because of its “remarkable and inspiring history,” said he looked forward to serving Nigeria in his new diplomatic role.
