Former Minister of Aviation and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode, has confirmed receipt of invitation from the Department of State Services (DSS) over comments he made about a coup plot ahead of the February elections.
Fani-Kayode, while confirming his honouring of the DSS invitation on Monday morning, stated that he has “done nothing wrong” nor did he say anything “I should not have said or done and I stand by everything that I have said or written in the past on all issues.
“It is not a crime to express my concerns about the despicable activities of Atiku who, in my view, has a hidden agenda and who is so desperate for power that he is prepared to do anything and turn the whole country upside down in order to achieve it.”
Part of the statement reads: “3 days ago, on the day that I tweeted about newspaper reports alleging that Atiku was secretly meeting with Army Generals, I got a text message from someone who claimed to be DSS asking me to report to them on a matter of national security.
“I dismissed the invitation because it was vague and I was not sure whether it really came from the DSS. In any case I had no intention of going anywhere unless I was formally invited. To my surprise I received a formal letter from them to report to their office without fail 2 days later, which was yesterday evening.
“I put a call through to them and was advised to take the matter very seriously and report to them on the stipulated day and time otherwise the worse may happen.
“Unlike cowards like Emefiele, Atiku and their strange bedfellows, I do not fear my own shadow and neither do I shiver and shake when I am invited by the security agencies. I always honour their invitations when properly invited because that is the right and proper thing to do.
“This is all the more so when it touches and concerns matters of national security which I take very seriously and when it involves agencies like the DSS who are professional and thorough in their methods and approach.
“I have nothing to hide and consequently I will present myself before the DSS this morning as I have been asked to do.
“I maintain my utter contempt for Atiku and the vermin that are around him and no matter what happens to me today or at any other time, know that as long as there is life in me I will oppose the darkness and evil that they represent.”
The Nigerian military had on Saturday refuted the news report alleging that some military officers met with a Presidential candidate with the aim of disrupting the general elections and setting the country on fire.
Acting Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, said in a press statement that the report is wicked and very malicious propaganda, saying there is no truth in the so-called Thursday meeting aimed at prodding the senior military officers to plot a coup d’etat to establish unconstitutional order.
The former Minister of Aviation had in a tweet on Saturday under Femi Fani-Kayode@realFFK, said: “There are reports that @atiku had a secret meeting with serving military Generals in Abuja on Thursday. If true, it is troubling & has implications. What was the purpose? Why would a presidential candidate be having secret meetings with soldiers 14 days before the election?
“Is this meeting part of the wider agenda to disrupt the elections, destabilise the country, set us on fire, incite chaos and violence, provoke a coup d’etat and establish a new and unconstitional order in our beloved country under the auspices of an ING?
“Knowing that he has no chance of winning the election, is Atiku now working with some members of the cabal, a handful of treacherous and unpatriotic technocrats at CBN and in the private sector and rogue elements in the ‘deep state’ to effect this demonic hidden agenda?”
The Acting Defence Spokesperson, General Gusau, reacting to the tweet, said: “The Armed Forces of Nigeria notes with dismay the story being peddled around by some unscrupulous elements and it is disheartened that even politically exposed persons can denigrate themselves into joining agents of destabilisation and violence in making false claims just to heighten tension in the polity.
“It needs to be stated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a professional military that is loyal to the constitution of the Federal Republic and will never be part of any evil plot against our democracy.
“Besides, the Military remains apolitical and neutral in the current political process and will not engage in the alleged shenanigans.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria will never be part of any ignoble plot to truncate our hard-earned democracy2, he added.
Gusau stated that “the Armed Forces of Nigeria hereby warn that those who engage in fabricating and spreading unfounded misinformation will be invited by the appropriate law enforcement agencies to substantiate their claims.
“The general public is advised to disregard such information and go about their normal activities.
