Femi Fani-Kayode
I was informed that Omoyele Sowore made references to things I allegedly said against President Bola Tinubu 11 years ago to somehow exonerate himself in the criminal case that he is facing for defamation. He claimed that I said that President Tinubu killed Chief Funso Williams in 2003. This is false. I never said that President Tinubu killed Funso Williams.
What I said was “I am not Funso Williams: I cannot be killed like a chicken”. Those were my EXACT words: nothing more and nothing less.
I said them 11 years ago and I have long since retracted them and accepted the fact that they were not only inappropriate but that they may have also been misconstrued!
It is a measure of how desperate Sowore is that he should be dragging up statements that I made 11 years ago about President Tinubu during the 2015 presidential election campaign which I have long since retracted and withdrawn in an attempt to help fight his case in court.
History records that I was in the opposition PDP at the time (2015) and was the Director of Media and Publicity in President Jonathan’s Presidential Campaign Organisation and a lot of ugly things were said by both sides against one another’s candidates and party leaders during the heat of battle. That is the nature of presidential campaigns everywhere in the world.
For the record, I left the PDP six years ago and joined the APC in 2021. Since that time I have supported the party selflessly and perhaps more relevantly I played a key role as Director of New Media and Special Operations in President Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Organisation in 2023.
Throughout that campaign, the record shows that morning, day and night both myself and the Directorate of 250 people that I headed spoke and fought for the president and contributed to his victory.
Outside of that, for the last two years since he was sworn in as president, I have been unwavering in my support for him and have sought to defend him and his government vigorously. I
f I had any misgivings about him I doubt I would have done all that. For Sowore to try to rope me or @renoomokri into his matter to justify his despicable behaviour is absurd. Reno may have opposed the election of President Tinubu in 2023 but after the president emerged victorious he has not only retracted all he said about him but he has also fought for him gallantry and defended his policies.
That is what any decent and well brought up person would do when faced with the truth and after he sees the light. Instead of trying to get us involved in his mess I would advise Sowore to do the honorable thing and retract his statements about the president or prepare for jail.
Whichever way, it makes no difference to me and I could not care less. Reno, myself and millions of others have taken a stance for Tinubu and no matter how many times he brings up our names in court to justify his asinine comments it will not help him.
I advise him to face his case with decency and decorum and plug his mouth. That is the only way he will escape the net he has found himself in. Reno and I found the right path and walked it. We also had the decency to accept the fact that comments we made years ago against the president were not only inappropriate but also wrong.
It takes courage to do that. I believe Sowore should cultivate that courage and accept that what he said about the President was also wrong and totally unacceptable. If he refuses to do so he should be ready to prove his case in court or face the consequences of his words and actions.
I conclude by mentioning the fact that it is a reflection of President Tinubu’s decency and humanity that he can welcome into his ranks those that once fought against him and opposed him.
He has been magnanimous and that is a mark of a leader. That is also why we stand with him and shall continue to do so regardless of the words of nauseating and inconsequential little distractions and obnoxious irritants like Omoyele Sowore.
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, the Otunba of Joga Orile, the Aare Ajagunla of Otun Ekiti, a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, a former Minister of Aviation, a former Senior Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo, a legal practitioner and an Ambassador-Designate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
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