Organizers of Chatham House Event are corrupt- Femi-Fani Kayode

The Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused the organizers of the Chatham House event that hosted Nigeria's main opposition candidate General Muhamadu Buhari of corruption. He also Said PDP would prosecute the General over post election violence in 2012. Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode who gave the hint at a press conference in Abuja also alleged that Chatham House, London, accepted financial gratification from the APC before it allowed General Buhari, to appear at its Forum last week.

Femi Fani-Kayode also raised alarm that his life was being threatened by APC stalwarts for verbally attacking Bola Tinubu last Friday at a press conference.

The ruling party also alleged that the Chatham House event was organised by the APC at the cost of N5 billion, including crowd rental.

Fani-Kayode described the Chatham House public speaking of Buhari as a “monumental failure”.

He said Buhari was never listed to speak at Chatham House but that the APC having paid the management of Chatham, were able to get an engagement for him to speak.

Fani-Kayode insisted that the questions were selected and drills held for Buhari days ahead of his appearance at Chatham House so that he would not fumble while answering questions.

“Buhari’s appearance at Chatham House was a last minute decoy to divert the attention of Nigerians and the whole world from the fact that his trip to London was mainly to seek medical attention and care.

“The point we are making is that General Buhari was not originally scheduled to go to Chatham House but in order to divert attention from the real purpose of the trip; the Chatham House speaking engagement was hurriedly put in place.

“There are some interesting facts about the Chatham House outing that Nigerians should know. The event was organised only two days before it took place and well after Buhari had arrived London.

“The questions that were asked were given to him two days before the event and the answers were prepared for him and given to him to rehearse.

“The programme lasted for only 55 minutes and only five questions, which were all planted, were asked.

“The people in the Hall were sponsored; 1,500 persons applied to attend the function but only 200 were allowed in.  The audience was carefully selected.

“The APC mobilised many students from the Republic of Ireland, who were all on scholarship courtesy of the Rivers State Government, to embark on a pro-Buhari rally outside the Chatham House,” he alleged.

He said the students were threatened that their scholarships would be withdrawn if they refuse to participate in the rally.

“This was the show of shame that General Buhari has got himself involved in. Sadly Chatham House offered its prestigious platform to sell a bad product to the world.

“The APC leaders begged for the speaking engagement and we are reliably informed that they paid for it.

“The information at our disposal indicates that not less than N5 billion was budgeted for the London jamboree.

“This amount was wasted on General Buhari’s Chatham House speaking engagement, numerous foreign consultants, air tickets for the huge delegation, the contingent of governors, hotels bills, the purchase and renting of vehicles and other logistics.

“We challenge the APC and its leaders to contradict this information,” he stated.

Fani-Kayode said General Buhari admitted it when asked by the selected audience that he sought medical attention in London and declared: “I am fit. My doctors have declared me fit.”

“Yet his minders and publicists had claimed that he was not going to London for medical attention.  That is how illogical General Buhari and the APC can be,” Fani-Kayode further stated.

He noted that since Buhari could appear at Chatham House, he must agree to participate in an open debate with President Goodluck Jonathan here in Nigeria.

He reiterated the ‘arrangee’ Chatham House event was another ploy, like the purported London interview, to hoodwink Nigerians and prevent General Buhari from debating in Nigeria.

“But we insist, General Buhari must debate in Nigeria. As a party, we are happy over this latest development as it will no longer give Buhari any excuse not to debate when he returns to Nigeria.

“The APC no longer has any hiding place, but to put General Buhari through a similar coaching course like in the U.K., to debate in our beloved country on any media of choice with our candidate, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,” he said.

While insisting that the 2011 post election violence was instigated by Buhari, newsmen at the event raised a question on the capability of the Jonathan administration to implement the nation’s law without fear of favour.

Fani-Kayode, however, responded that though the Justice Lemu Panel of Inquiry into the post- election violence found Buhari guilty of instigating the violence, the Jonathan administration opted not to prosecute him then because of the political tension such a move would generate.

He, however, assured that the issue would be given a serious thought this time around when Jonathan wins the March 28 presidential election.

He said further that already a case is awaiting the APC presidential candidate at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and that two case files have already been opened for him.

“And after General Buhari’s rejection at the poll, General Buhari may have to prepare to face charges of human rights abuses and criminality filed against him before the International Criminal Court on account of the 2011 electoral violence in Nigeria.

“According to the African Herald Express report on the issue published on February 20, 2015, Dutch lawyers – Prakken d’Oliveira, a Human Rights Law Firm based in Amsterdam, said it had filed a criminal complaint against General Muhammadu Buhari at the ICC.

“Prakken d’ Oliveira, led by Prof. Sluiter, Lawyer and Partner, is said to be acting on behalf of the Nigerian Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice and two individual victims.

“The full version of the criminal complaint is available on the following links in two parts @ Criminal Complaint Against Gen. Buhari 1 and Criminal Complaint Against Gen Buhari 2.

“The complaint, according to the report, alleges that General Buhari incited and orchestrated the electoral violence in Nigeria in 2011, which led to the violent murder of over 938 and 735 injured, many of them children, women and young men.

“The complaint, the report further said, “presents factual evidence including the names and descriptions of a sampling of those who lost their lives in the violence.

“These include youth corps members who were killed in Giade, Bauchi State, in the 2011 post-election violence,” he said.

Speaking on the alleged death threat issued on him, Fani-Kayode, said he received a Short Message Service (SMS) from one of Bola Tinubu’s media manager with a warning that if he does not stop attacking Tinubu, he would be severely dealt with.

He however, said he does not fear for his life neither can anyone kill him before his time.

“The other day I got a text from Idowu Ajanaku, another known minion of Ahmed Bola Tinubu, ….that makes two of them, Lai Mohammed and the other minion, Ajanaku is on my phone now, saying stop this attack on Bola Tinubu because we are going to deal with you.

“My name is Femi Fani-Kayode, and nobody can”funsho-williams” me. Nobody can kill me before my time. Nobody can cut me short and I habour no fear of violence and I do not take threats lightly. Neither do I fear for my life.

“Before anybody begins to consider killing me, because  I have never shed blood and I do not believe in violence,  the angel of the Lord will strike that person dead before they point a gun at me in Jesus Name,” he said.