The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Department of State Services (DSS), the police and other security agencies to invite the Director of Special Projects and New Media of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Femi Fani-Kayode, to explain his allegations and insinuations of an attempted coup allegedly being planned by top generals and himself.
The Special Assistant, Public Communications, to Atiku, Mr Phrank Shaibu, disclosed this Sunday in a statement.
He was reacting to a tweet by Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation that Atiku had met with top army generals with a possible plan to scuttling the 2023 elections or perpetrating a coup.
Part of the statement reads: “Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have bothered responding to Fani-Kayode who has over the years built a reputation of being an inveterate liar so much so that he was even publicly blacklisted by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) after his disgraceful outburst at a journalist.
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“However, allegations and insinuations of a coup should not be taken lightly given the fact that it is treason, an offence that carries the death penalty.
“While commending the Nigerian military for effectively rubbishing Fani-Kayode’s barefaced lie, we call on security agencies to invite him to shed more light on the allegations.”
Shaibu described Fani-Kayode’s attempt to recant as belated, adding that the allegations were too grave to be ignored.
He said, “No! Fani-Kayode cannot recant. We refuse to accept that. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. He who comes to the Lord must come with contrition. Contrition requires remorse and confession. If Fani-Kayode wants Nigerians to take him seriously, it is his confession that he lied or his provision of proof that he did not.
“This man, who has vilified many people through his lies, wants to get acceptance without doing penance for an act of wickedness motivated by finance!”
Shaibu noted that when the late Deputy Central Bank Governor, Obadiah Mailafia, made allegations that a serving governor was a Boko Haram commander, he was invited five times by the DSS and the police until he had to run to court.
He said Fani-Kayode must not be given preferential treatment because he worked for the ruling party.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday denied that there was a coup d’etat in the offing. They debunked claims that some generals met last Thursday with a presidential candidate to consummate the plot.
The Acting Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig Gen Tukur Gusau, in a statement yesterday said that the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) remained loyal to the constitution and will never be part of any evil plot against our democracy.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria notes with dismay the story being peddled around by some unscrupulous elements alleging that some military officers met with a presidential candidate to disrupt the general elections and set the country on fire. The wicked and malicious propaganda indicated that a so-called Thursday meeting is plotting a coup d’etat to establish an unconstitutional order.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria 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 said.
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