My coup comment regrettable – Fani-Kayide

Femi Fani-Kayode, one of the spokespersons of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed regret over his comment on possible collusion between some elements in the military and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

Mr Fani-Kayode expressed regret on Monday during a press briefing at the National Secretariat of the APC in Abuja after his release by the State Security Services (SSS).

He had been invited by the secret police for claiming in a tweet that Atiku met with some military generals and that the meeting could culminate in a coup d’etat.

The former aviation minister said he was interrogated for five hours by the SSS over the comment. While reiterating that he did nothing wrong, he, however, conceded that he could have handled the situation differently.

He stated that he should have verified the source of the news that reported the alleged clandestine meeting between Atiku and the military. He described the medium that reported the alleged meeting as faceless.

“During the course of the discussion, I think it is fair for me to mention one or two things. It is self-evident that some of the things that were said were regrettable.

Why do I say so? When news comes out, perhaps one should not have not simply said it, believed it and accepted it, even if it is true. Perhaps another course could have been taken… perhaps, let me ask the authority privately, let me find out before I say anything. I think I will concede that sometimes we have to be a little circumspect, especially given that—as they pointed out, the medium that issued out the statement is faceless.

“We can’t rely on that medium. When I say something on my Twitter, the whole world listens. What I said really sent shock waves, and some people were very hurt. I say it is regrettable and I must say that was a mistake,” he said.

Mr Fani-Kayode added that his judgement was “clouded by the fog of war” which made him say things without putting much thought into it.

He described the SSS facility as the most challenging place to be, adding that it is a place that most people ordinarily should avoid going to.

It was very difficult—the place that anybody does not really want to go, I will suggest is probably the DSS, it is a very challenging place,” adding that “I still have faith in the system”.

Mr Fani-Kayode also disclosed that he has been asked to report to the SSS on Wednesday and also once a week to determine if they will charge him to court or not.