APC spokesman Lai Mohammed is a pathological liar & shameless - Femi Fani Kayode
Here's
a formal response from former minister Femi Fani Kayode to Lai Mohammed
and the APC on their threat of legal action against him after his
interview on Channels TV yesterday where he said Boko Haram is an armed
wing of the opposition and that the founder of the terrorist sect is a
member of the opposition. Find FFK's statement below and Lai Mohammed's
statement after the cut...
I read the response of the APC through it's spokesman Lai Mohammed to my allegations and assertions in the interview that I gave to Channels TV on 30th June 2014. The said response appeared in a number of newspapers on 1st July 2014.
I wish to make it clear that I stand by every single allegation and assertion that I made in the said interview and that I believe strongly that the APC comprises of at least a handful of Boko Haram sympathisers and questionable individuals who have at various times expressed a certain degree of support for Boko Haram. I wish to state clearly and categorically that Lai Mohammed, the official spokesman of the APC, is not only a pathological liar and a shameless coward but that he did indeed make the said comments about Boko Haram that I attributed to him in the interview.
Apart
from being a pernicious liar he is also a malicious and vindictive soul
who is is either going senile and therefore habitually forgets what he
once said or who simply derives pleasure from creating even more
problems for his political party than they already have. Though he
denied it, it is on record that he protested about and opposed the
proscription of Boko Haram by the Federal Government in various
newspapers on June 10th 2013 and he described such proscription as being
unconstitutional and/or extra-constitutional and wrong in various
newspapers.http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles.
At that time he spoke in
his official capacity as the spokesman of the ACN which is a constituent
part of the present-day APC and which merged with other parties a few
months later to form the said APC. The same Lai Mohammed is now the
spokesman of the APC and I have no reason to believe that he has purged
himself of his earlier sympathies for that murderous organisation and
it's deadly activities. I should also add that the same Lai Mohammed, on
behalf of his party, opposed the idea of Boko Haram being labelled as a
terrorist organisation by the United States of America throughout last
year. As shameful as it is, this was his position and that of his party
after that evil and insidious terrorist organisation had slaughtered
thousands of our compatriots and innocent citizens and abducted, bombed
and maimed our people. This speaks volumes.
I would like to take this opportunity
to state that I stand by every word that I said about General Muhammadu
Buhari in the said interview and that his words and statements about
Boko Haram and the agenda of those that believe in and support Boko
Haram raises a lot of questions. These words were not in any way misconstrued or taken out of context in the said interview.
Finally I would like to state clearly
and categorically that the assertion and grave allegation that I have
''cut a deal with the Federal Government'' concerning my case with the
EFCC in order to ''prevent me from going to jail'' is not only asinine
but it is also absurd. It is a lie from the pit of hell and it is a
gratutious and slanderous insult on not only the Nigerian Judiciary, the
Federal Government and my goodself but also on the legal profession as a
whole and all those that are involved in the case. The case has been in
court for the past 7 years and I can say clearly and categorically that
no deals have been cut.
It is also clear that the prosecution
is about to close it's case and for Lai Mohammed to suggest that some
kind of deal has been cut is not only libellous, extreemly damaging and
deeply malicious but it is also contemptuos of the court proceedings.
This matter will, of course, be taken up at the highest level and Lai
Mohammed will be required to produce the evidence and the strictest
proof of this so-called ''deal''. I have instructed my lawyers to send a
letter to Lai Mohammed and the APC to urge them to issue a public
apology within a specified period of time or else I will instigate
legal proceedings against them for this vicious and most malevolent form
of libel and defamation of character.
I look forward to seeing them in court
where they can produce the evidence of where this so-called ''deal''
was cut between myself and the Federal Government to ensure that ''I do
not go to jail''. Finally those that lack principle and the courage of
their convictions and that have ended up changing parties as many times
as they change their soiled underpants can be found in the APC more than
anywhere else. This is self-evident. They are a cultic set of strange
bedfellows who are lusting after power but who, by the grace of God,
will never smell it.
The fact that they have a spokesman
who not only lies about his past statements and claims that he never
said what he clearly said in the past and the fact that this same
individual claimed that I never joined the APC in the first place proves
to the world what a desperate, dirty, smutty and wicked little fellow
he really is. I look forward to meeting him and his co-travellers in
court and be rest assured that when we get there he and his friends will
get far more than they bargained for.
Finally on the allegation that I am
attempting to ''ingratiate myself to and please the Federal Government''
nothing could be further from the truth and more absurd. My background
and breeding would not permit me to try to ingratiate myself to anyone
or any institution for any reason. Lai Mohammed and those that he
represents and speaks for would not know anything about this because
they come from a completely different background and a different world.
For the record I have criticised the Federal Government as much as
anyone else over the last few years and I would be ready to do so anyday
and anytime where and when I feel that it is necessary.
I am also ready to criticise the
excesses and the strange and wicked tendencies of an irresponsible and
egotistical opposition like the APC where and when I believe that it is
in the interest of Nigeria to do so. This is because I have always
spoken the truth regardless of whose ox is gored and I am not used to
operating in an evil cult of silence where no dissent is tolerated or
brooked and in which no-one is allowed to hold a contrary opinion to the
powers that be.
If I am to choose between the Federal
Government and the PDP on the one hand and the APC with it's two-man
dictatorial and fascistic leadership on the other I would choose the
former any day. Sadly it took me one year of being amongst the APC to
appreciate that and I thank God that I eventually did and that, unlike
many others, I had the courage to leave them before it was too late. You
may be used to intimidating and bullying others but you cannot
intimidate or bully me. I have no fear of you, your leaders, your
threats to my life which I have been receiving since I gave that
interview or your threats of imminent destruction and litigation.
I am not a man of war but a man of
peace. I deplore strife and rancour. However I do not shirk away from a
fight or a controversy when I am sufficiently provoked or threatened no
matter how big and powerful the bully that issues that threat may be.
By the time this is all over you will know that I serve a Living God
who is more than able to fight my battles for me. All I have to do is to
watch and pray.
Permit me to end this response by
pointing out the fact that if any group of people are guilty of
''returning to their vomit'', the APC and most of it's leaders are more
so than anyone else. They have also been rolling in their own faeces for
many years. Whether they wish to
accept it or not the stench of their yesteryears stalks them till today.
No matter how hard they try nothing can change that and nothing can
make that awful stench go away.
May God guide and help them and their
party to see the light and to appreciate the virtues and beauty of a
decent and peaceful secular state where violence and religious
fundamentalism of any sort has no place. And may He deliver them from
continuosly and habitually treading the path of division, rancor, lies,
deceit, bullying, intimidation and self-destruction before it is too
late. Hell will freeze over before I issue Lai Mohammed or the APC any
type of apology for what I have said. If they are waiting for that they
will wait forever. I look forward to seeing them in court and may God's
will be done.
signed: CHIEF FEMI FANI-KAYODE
APC's statement yesterday reads in part
I have caused my attorneys to
formally write both Fani-Kayode and Channel television, where he made
his allegation, to retract the statement and apologize, failing which I
will sue for defamation of character.”
Our position on Boko Haram
has been well articulated for anyone who cares to know, but at no time
did we condemn the government for proscribing it. When the state of
emergency was declared on three northern states, we criticized it and we
stand by that. But we did not condemn the proscription of Boko Haram.
We are not Boko Haram sympathizers and we cannot be under any
circumstance.
Equally irresponsible and condemnable is Mr. Fani-Kayode’s
deliberate distortion of statements made in the past by Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari to mean that he or his party is a sympathizer of Boko Haram.
It is common knowledge that Mr. Fani-Kayode has
been charged by the Federal Government with money laundering. The trial
is almost ending, and he knows he faces a certain jail term if
convicted.
It is therefore not impossible that Mr. Fani-Kayode
may be seeking to ingratiate himself to the FG by using various media
platforms to destroy the APC through accusing its leaders of being Boko
Haram sponsors or that the party is bent on fielding a Muslim/Muslim
ticket in next year’s presidential elections.
Unfortunately, in
his eagerness to please the FG and cut a deal to avoid going to jail, he
has resorted to pathological lies aimed at calling the dog a bad name
in order to hang it. Whatever evidence he has to prove that our party is
a sponsor of Boko Haram, he should be prepared to tender such in
court,” APC said.
