A FORMER Minister of Aviation and Director of Special Projects and New Media of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode is currently with the Directorate of State Service (DSS) in Abuja.

The Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed this on his Twitter account on Monday.

Before Onanuga’s confirmation, Fani-Kayode had released over a dozen tweets on his verified Twitter account that he was on his way to the DSS office to honour an invitation.

He reaffirmed his claim that there is a plan to scuttle the 2023 presidential poll through a military coup. 

He also claimed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, was behind the coup plot.

Fani-Kayode had on Saturday, February 11, alleged in some tweets on his verified Twitter account that he read newspaper reports about Atiku meeting with military generals on Thursday, February 9, in Abuja.

How wondered what a presidential candidate would do with top echelons of the military two weeks before the general elections.

“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 unconstitutional order in our beloved country under the auspices of 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?” Fani-Kayode,” tweeted.

Responding to the claim, the military advised the country’s secret police – the Directorate of State Service (DSS) – to invite Fani-Kayode for questioning. They also dismissed his allegation.

Atiku also urged the DSS to arrest Fani-Kayode over the claim.

Speaking through the Acting Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, the military said it would always defend the nation’s democracy and not truncate it.

It, however, vowed to make Fani-Kayode and others making such claims account for their allegations before appropriate authorities.

The ICIR reports that since Nigeria returned to democracy on May 29, 1999, after years of military rule, the military has been apolitical.

Atiku said in a statement issued by his Special Assistant, Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday, that relevant security agencies should invite Fani-Kayode.

He insisted that Fani-Kayode’s claim was ‘treasonable’ and should not be dismissed.

According to the former vice president, the allegation should be taken seriously as less serious claims had attracted prompt actions by the security agencies.

Atiku alluded to the late former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, who got invitations from the DSS and police many times before he headed for court.

He said Fani-Kayode should not be spared because he belonged to the ruling APC.

Here are Monday’s tweets by Fani-Kayode before heading for the DSS custody:

“Three days ago, when 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 two 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. 

“I found it interesting that a call came from one of Atiku’s dogs for me to be arrested by the security agencies yesterday, and had it not been for the fact that the DSS had actually sent a text to me two days earlier I may have thought that they were acting on the instructions of what can only be described as a hopeless and desperate presidential candidate, opposition party and PCC who are clutching at straws, drowning fast, seeking to silence those that give them sleepless nights, shivering in despair and staring defeat in the face in the upcoming presidential election.

“Clearly, the DSS were (sic) not influenced by Atiku and were (sic) simply doing their job by inviting me on a matter that needs explanation and clarification and for a thorough interrogation. And, of course, being a responsible and law-abiding citizen, I will present myself before them accordingly.

“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.

“I am used to arrest, interrogation, detention, prosecution, and so much more and have suffered these indignities on many occasions over the last 15 years. I have no fear: nothing moves me, and only death can silence me. The most important thing now is not what happens to me but rather achieving the noble quest to ensure the election of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our next President.

“That is the mission that we must focus on because that is the only way to save our country. I hope that I will be at liberty and free to continue to play my role in that quest, but if I am not and I am detained indefinitely or till the election is over, so be it.

“In such circumstances, be rest assured that I will be praying fervently for Asiwaju’s victory from the inside. For the record, I have said or done nothing wrong or that 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.

_May God protect our people and nation from such a shameless and questionable character and such a disastrous plight, and may He continue to be with us all.”

Marcus FATUNMOLE

Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org