By Martin Cole-
A group, Save Nigeria Democratic Movement, on Thursday called on the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, to arrest former Aviation Minister and Director of New Media, All Progressive Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, Femi Fani-Kayode, (pictured) within the 48 hours, over his recent inciting comments.
Fani-Kayode, in a release on Saturday, warned that the country would be made ungovernable if supporters of presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi did not stop their protests against the result of the 2023 election.
He had said: “Let this serve as a timely warning. We cannot be a punching bag for the opposition forever and soon we will react. Trust me when I tell you that if there is any foul play in this matter or any conspiracy to thwart the people’s will, we will make this nation ungovernable.”
His words have been interpreted to imply an incitement to mayhem and disorder, in the perceived event of any ”foul play” or ”conspiracy to thwart the people’s will”.
The group pointed out that Fani-Kayode’s ethnic profiling and inciting statements fuelled unprecedented violence against non-Yoruba voters in Lagos State at the just-concluded governorship poll.
At a press conference jointly addressed by its President, Danjuma Garba and Secretary, Olubankole Peters Adeniyi, SNDM condemned his recent threat to make the country ungovernable, and called on the relevant security agencies to put Fani-Kayode in check, before he plunges the country into chaos with his rhetorics.
Secret police earlier this week summoned Fani-Kayode for questioning over a coup tweet, and he was released after hours of grilling. The Assistant Inspector-General Federal Investigation Bureau also invited Fani-Kayode for questioning over the same issue yesterday, but APC reacted on Wednesday.
The former aviation minister has himself called for the arrest of opposition leaders including Atiku and Peter Obi for allegedly inciting violence.
He is considered by many of his critics as a loose cannon who shoots from the heaps. His supporters consider him as a highly driven man who is very opinionated and defends whatever party to which he belongs,
Disturbed
The group said, “The Save Nigeria Democratic Movement is disturbed by the recent , inciting comments by a former Aviation Minister and Director of New Media, All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Femi Fani-Kayode.
“Recently, the media has been awash with reports of Fani-Kayode’s inciting rhetoric targeted at causing ethnic disharmony and widespread violence across the nation. We can no longer continue to ignore his excesses as they pose a grave danger to our democracy, unity and security.
“Recall that his ethnic-profiling and inciting statements fuelled unprecedented violence against non-Yoruba voters in Lagos State at the just-concluded governorship poll. We find totally unacceptable, his recent threat to make the country ungovernable should Bola Ahmed Tinubu not be sworn in. This is a threat against national peace and security and should not be ignored by all relevant security agencies.
“Already, his rancorous and misguided outbursts had attracted the attention of the international community. A British envoy addressed him and pointed out the dangers of his inciting statements.
“However, instead of retracting his statements, he went wild against the envoy with derogatory remarks and tirades unbefitting of a supposed statesman.
“Femi Fani-Kayode is infamous in Nigeria for his opportunistic political misadventures. He is a rabble-rouser whose only political value is the noise he makes and the ripples of disaffection it causes.
“He has never contested, won or lost an election. His is to parasitically attach himself to the winning side and look for any available financial opportunity to sustain his extravagant and drug-ridden lifestyle.
“The incompetent junkie once blamed witches for the plane crashes that happened under his watch as the aviation minister.
“We, therefore, call on the ruling party to amend their initial mistake of appointing Femi Fani-Kayode into their campaign council by distancing themselves from his inciting and bigoted comments.
“We would be forced to believe that Femi Fani-Kayode is doing the biddings of the ruling party to destroy Nigeria if drastic punitive actions are not taken against him.
“Finally, we call on the Inspector General of Police, and the Directorate of State Security (DSS) to arrest, within 48 hours, Femi Fani-Kayode for posing a grave threat to national security with his ceaseless inciting statements and ethnic profiling. This is to serve as a deterrent to other tribal bigots, and overzealous politicians,” they added
Mr Kayode, a former lawyer and Cambridge graduate, has become increasingly controversial in the goes into extreme lengths to criticise his subjects, and some of his explosive comments.
His critics say the former minister, who hails rom a family of eminent academics, is rocking the polity of the country.