APC spokesman Lai Mohammed is a pathological liar & shameless - FFK

Here's a formal response from former minister Femi Fani Kayode to Lai Mohammed and the APC on their threat of legal action against him after his interview on Channels TV yesterday where he said Boko Haram is an armed wing of the opposition and that the founder of the terrorist sect is a member of the opposition. Find FFK's statement below and Lai Mohammed's statement after the cut...

I read the response of the APC through it's spokesman Lai Mohammed to my allegations and assertions in the interview that I gave to Channels TV on 30th June 2014. The said response appeared in a number of newspapers on 1st July 2014. 

I wish to make it clear that I stand by every single allegation and assertion that I made in the said interview and that I believe strongly that the APC comprises of at least a handful of Boko Haram sympathisers and questionable individuals who have at various times expressed a certain degree of support for Boko Haram. I wish to state clearly and categorically that Lai Mohammed, the official spokesman of the APC, is not only a pathological liar and a shameless coward but that he did indeed make the said comments about Boko Haram that I attributed to him in the interview.   

Apart from being a pernicious liar he is also a malicious and vindictive soul who is is either going senile and therefore habitually forgets what he once said or who simply derives pleasure from creating even more problems for his political party than they already have. Though he denied it, it is on record that he protested about and opposed the proscription of Boko Haram by the Federal Government in various newspapers on June 10th 2013 and he described such proscription as being unconstitutional and/or extra-constitutional and wrong in various newspapers.http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles.

At that time he spoke in his official capacity as the spokesman of the ACN which is a constituent part of the present-day APC and which merged with other parties a few months later to form the said APC. The same Lai Mohammed  is now the spokesman of the APC and I have no reason to believe that he has purged himself of his earlier sympathies for that murderous organisation and it's deadly activities. I should also add that the same Lai Mohammed, on behalf of his party, opposed the idea of Boko Haram being labelled as a terrorist organisation by the United States of America throughout last year. As shameful as it is, this was his position and that of his party after that evil and insidious terrorist organisation had slaughtered thousands of our compatriots and innocent citizens and abducted, bombed and maimed our people. This speaks volumes. 

I would like to take this opportunity to state that I stand by every word that I said about General Muhammadu Buhari in the said interview and that his words and statements about Boko Haram and the agenda of those that believe in and support Boko Haram raises a lot of questions. These words were not in any way misconstrued or taken out of context in the said interview. 

Finally I would like to state clearly and categorically that the assertion  and grave allegation that I have ''cut a deal with the Federal Government'' concerning my case with the EFCC in order to ''prevent me from going to jail'' is not only asinine but it is also absurd. It is a lie from the pit of hell and it is a gratutious and slanderous insult on not only the Nigerian Judiciary, the Federal Government and my goodself but also on the legal profession as a whole and all those that are involved in the case. The case has been in court for the past 7 years and I can say clearly and categorically that no deals have been cut. 

It is also clear that the prosecution is about to close it's case and for Lai Mohammed to suggest that some kind of deal has been cut is not only libellous, extreemly damaging and deeply malicious but it is also contemptuos of the court proceedings. This matter will, of course, be taken up at the highest level and Lai Mohammed will be required to produce the evidence and the strictest proof of this so-called ''deal''. I have instructed my lawyers to send a letter to Lai Mohammed and the APC to urge them to issue a public apology within a specified period of  time or else I will instigate legal proceedings against them for this vicious and most malevolent form of libel and defamation of character. 

I look forward to seeing them in court where they can produce the evidence of where this so-called ''deal'' was cut between myself and the Federal Government to ensure that ''I do not go to jail''. Finally those that lack principle and the courage of their convictions and that have ended up changing parties as many times as they change their soiled underpants can be found in the APC more than anywhere else. This is self-evident. They are a cultic set of strange bedfellows who are lusting after power but who, by the grace of God, will never smell it. 

The fact that they have a spokesman who not only lies about his past statements and claims that he never said what he clearly said in the past and the fact that this same individual claimed that I never joined the APC in the first place proves to the world what a desperate, dirty, smutty and wicked little fellow he really is. I look forward to meeting him and his co-travellers in court and be rest assured that when we get there he and his friends will get far more than they bargained for. 

Finally on the allegation that I am attempting to ''ingratiate myself to and please the Federal Government'' nothing could be further from the truth and more absurd. My background and breeding would not permit me to try to ingratiate myself to anyone or any institution for any reason. Lai Mohammed and those that he represents and speaks for would not know anything about this because they come from a completely different background and a different world. For the record I have criticised the Federal Government as much as anyone else over the last few years and I would be ready to do so anyday and anytime where and when I feel that it is necessary. 

I am also ready to criticise the excesses and the strange and wicked tendencies of an irresponsible and egotistical opposition like the APC where and when I believe that it is in the interest of Nigeria to do so. This is because I have always spoken the truth regardless of whose ox is gored and I am not used to operating in an evil cult of silence where no dissent is tolerated or brooked and in which no-one is allowed to hold a contrary opinion to the powers that be.  

If I am to choose between the Federal Government and the PDP on the one hand and the APC with it's two-man dictatorial and fascistic leadership on the other I would choose the former any day. Sadly it took me one year of being amongst the APC to appreciate that and I thank God that I eventually did and that, unlike many others, I had the courage to leave them before it was too late. You may be used to intimidating and bullying others but you cannot intimidate or bully me. I have no fear of you, your leaders, your threats to my life which I have been receiving since I gave that interview or your threats of imminent destruction and litigation. 

I am not a man of war but a man of peace. I deplore strife and rancour. However I do not shirk away from a fight or a controversy when I am sufficiently provoked or threatened no matter how big and powerful the bully that issues that threat may be.  By the time this is all over you will know that I serve a Living God who is more than able to fight my battles for me. All I have to do is to watch and pray. 

Permit me to end this response by pointing out the fact that if any group of people are guilty of ''returning to their vomit'', the APC and most of it's leaders are more so than anyone else. They have also been rolling in their own faeces for many years. Whether they wish to accept it or not the stench of their yesteryears stalks them till today. No matter how hard they try nothing can change that and nothing can make that awful stench go away.

May God guide and help them and their party to see the light and to appreciate the virtues and beauty of a decent and peaceful secular state where violence and religious fundamentalism of any sort has no place. And may He deliver them from continuosly and habitually treading the path of division, rancor, lies, deceit, bullying, intimidation and self-destruction before it is too late. Hell will freeze over before I issue Lai Mohammed or the APC any type of apology for what I have said. If they are waiting for that they will wait forever. I look forward to seeing them in court and may God's will be done.

signed: CHIEF FEMI FANI-KAYODE

APC's statement yesterday reads in part

I have caused my attorneys to formally write both Fani-Kayode and Channel television, where he made his allegation, to retract the statement and apologize, failing which I will sue for defamation of character.”

Our position on Boko Haram has been well articulated for anyone who cares to know, but at no time did we condemn the government for proscribing it. When the state of emergency was declared on three northern states, we criticized it and we stand by that. But we did not condemn the proscription of Boko Haram. We are not Boko Haram sympathizers and we cannot be under any circumstance.

Equally irresponsible and condemnable is Mr. Fani-Kayode’s deliberate distortion of statements made in the past by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to mean that he or his party is a sympathizer of Boko Haram.

It is common knowledge that Mr. Fani-Kayode has been charged by the Federal Government with money laundering. The trial is almost ending, and he knows he faces a certain jail term if convicted.

It is therefore not impossible that Mr. Fani-Kayode may be seeking to ingratiate himself to the FG by using various media platforms to destroy the APC through accusing its leaders of being Boko Haram sponsors or that the party is bent on fielding a Muslim/Muslim ticket in next year’s presidential elections.

Unfortunately, in his eagerness to please the FG and cut a deal to avoid going to jail, he has resorted to pathological lies aimed at calling the dog a bad name in order to hang it. Whatever evidence he has to prove that our party is a sponsor of Boko Haram, he should be prepared to tender such in court,” APC said.