Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has announced that President Bola Tinubu has approved his appointment as Nigeria’s
Ambassador-Designate to South Africa.
Fani-Kayode disclosed this in a statement shared via his X handle on Thursday, revealing that he was initially posted to Germany before requesting a redeployment.
According to him, he formally wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing reservations about serving in Germany for personal reasons, while requesting to be reassigned to South Africa instead.
The former minister stated that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, approved the request and forwarded it to President Tinubu, who gave the final approval.
Fani-Kayode explained that he preferred South Africa because of its closer diplomatic ties with Nigeria, its position as Africa’s largest economy, and what he described as a shared pan-African outlook on
foreign affairs.He also revealed that the redeployment involved a mutual swap arrangement with Senator Sam Enang, who had initially been posted to South Africa but later opted for Germany.
Reacting to reports claiming that Germany rejected his appointment, Fani-Kayode dismissed the allegations as false, malicious, and intended to embarrass both him and the Federal Government.
He said no formal rejection was ever communicated by German authorities and disclosed that his legal team had been instructed to initiate action against the publication responsible for the report.
The former minister further stated that the matter had been reported to relevant security agencies, while urging media organisations to verify sensitive diplomatic information before publication.
Fani-Kayode expressed appreciation to President Tinubu and the Minister of Foreign Affairs for approving his redeployment, adding that he looks forward to representing Nigeria in South Africa.
