Controversial former Nigerian minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kanyode, has threatened to reveal details of his past private relationship with Nigeria’s ambassador to Spain, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu after the ambassador rejected his apologies in several newspaper withdrawing earlier claims they had a romantic past.
Mrs. Ojukwu through her lawyers had ordered the minister to withdraw claims made in article that he had intimate relations with her several years ago. Shortly after receiving the legal threats, Fani-Kayode went on to issue an apology, asking to remove the word “intimate” from the claims made relating to Bianca and two other ladies.
However, Mrs. Ojukwu rejected the apologies claiming they were not sufficient, she thereafter threatened to institute a lawsuit to seek redress.
The latest legal threat might have prompted Fani-Kayode to issue a statement today daring Mrs. Ojukwu to put the matter before the courts.
In the statement, signed by his personal assistant, reproduced below, Mr. Fani-Kayode threatened to expose the ambassador and put the details of their past relationship in the public domain.
SEE FULL TEXT OF MR. FANI-KAYODE’S PRESS RELEASE.
”We read the comments of the P.A. to Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu in the Sun Newspaper of 9th September and in a number of other newspapers where she expressed the view that the withdrawal of the comments made about her by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode were ”not enough”. We really do wonder what Mrs. Ojukwu really wants from Chief Fani-Kayode and what her agenda really is. Throughout this matter Chief Fani-Kayode has chosen the path of peace and has attempted to avoid an ugly and public quarrel with Bianca Ojukwu out of respect to the memory of her late father Chief C.C. Onoh and the memory of her late husband, Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu .
Consequently he has publicly apologised to her and the two other igbo ladies that he mentioned in the said article (namely Miss Chioma Ansoh and Miss Adaobi Ucgegbu) on two separate occassions, in three separate national newspapers and online. He has also publicly withdrawn the words that they found offensive, he has edited the said article, he has ensured that no newspaper in Nigeria that published it mentioned their names in the revised version, he has admitted that the word ”intimate” that was used in the online version of the article was ”indiscreet” and he has bent over backwards to tread the path of peace and to appease all those concerned. Despite all these efforts Bianca Ojukwu has refused to be appeased or to let go and she has continued to peddle the shameless lie that she has never met Chief Fani-Kayode.
This is sad and unfortunate and it is beyond the imagination of anyone that a serving Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would so readily and so easily be given to telling such lies. Chief Fani-Kayode is not comfortable with publicly joining issues with ladies when it comes to matters of a private nature such as this because he was well brought up and he is a gentleman but it is clear that Bianca Ojukwu is desperate to go to war over this issue and to cover up the truth about their past. It is also clear that she has constituted herself into the arrowhead of a group of people who are determined to use her and this whole unsavory episode to attempt to distract attention from the wider and more important issues raised in the essay and to discredit him.
Since that is the case we welcome whatever action Ojukwu wishes to take in court and we shall gladly meet her there. We will also be instigating our own legal proceedings against her in due course for her barefaced and malicious lies and her consistent claim that she has never met Chief Fani-Kayode all in an attempt to libel, defame, diminish and discredit him before the entire world. We wish to state clearly and categorically that not only did Chief Fani-Kayode know her but he also knew her far better than she cares to publicly admit. The precise nature of that relationship will be explored and exposed in open court. It is not in the nature of Chief Fani-Kayode to fight unnecessary and distractive battles over flippant matters such as this but on this occasion he has been compelled to do so simply because he will do whatever it takes to protect his integrity and establish the fact that he has told no lie.
Since she has continued her shameless perfidy and wishes to tread the path of deceit and confrontation then so be it. Finally let it be clearly understood that at no point did Chief Fani-Kayode lie about the nature of his relationship with Ojukwu. However he did not feel that it was appropriate or necessary to share the details of that relationship with the public because he felt that such matters were strictly private.
The fact that she mistook his mature exercise of restraint and discretion, even when provoked and insulted, his desire for peace and his gentlemanly nature for weakness is not only unfortunate but also a grave miscalculation on her part. Once again we reiterate the fact that we counsel Ojukwu to take whatever course of action she pleases and we welcome this opportunity to expose her for what she is. The matter has been referred to our lawyers for final preparation. They will prepare a vigorous defence to Ojukwu’s absurd allegations and they will also determine our next line of action against her”- Mr. Tosin Emmanuel, P.A. to Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.
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