Femi Fani Kayode (left), and Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in the forthcoming election
By NewsBits
Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has expressed regrets over the purported military coup he alluded to in a recent statement, declaring that he (FFK) should have been more circumspect in his postulation over such sensitive national security issues.
His recount at a press conference last night followed over five hours of grilling by the interrogators at the Department of State Services (DSS) who apparently coarse to eat his words…The APC Presidential Council member and Director of New Media said he actually did not accuse anyone but raised posers over alleged meetings with the PDP presidential candidate and military chief, adding however that he should have handled the matter differently given its serious national security implications.
He insisted that his intention for raising the alarm was to ensure that the authorities are on top of their game and investigate Atiku. Given his experience with the DSS, FFK said, “I was subjected to very thorough grilling, they were inquisitive, and it was very professional, at the same time I must say they were polite, reasonable, and rational. Though it was quite an ordeal, I felt I was treated fairly, I was not oppressed. They were not acting on the others of the Peoples Democratic Party”
In the course of the investigation, he said that he realized that his position regarding a phantom coup plot by anybody for that matter was untenable and regrettable. FFK agreed with his interrogators that he should have sought clarification on the matter through the back channels available to him rather than rush to social media. He admitted that his action gave credibility to otherwise fake news that has a basis at all.
“Sometimes we need to be circumspect because the medium that issued that statement was faceless and of course when I say something on my Twitter handle, it is the whole world is listening and apparently what I said sent shock waves in a lot of places and some people were really hurt. And I think it is regrettable, and it was a mistake. And I was the first to acknowledge that when things are not done in the right way”.
On why he failed to the trap of not checking out the validity of his allegations before going public, Chief Fani- Kayode admitted that he was shocked by what he called “the fog of war”. According to him the media outlet of the two rival APC and PDP are at war literally.
“On the issue of being circumspect, sometimes when you are at a waterfront, your decision and judgement sometimes become jaundiced by what is referred to as fog of war. In other words, in a struggle or fight.
“And this is a fight, it is a war, politics is a war by other means. So, all of us are in a middle of a war. Bayo, Felix, there Dele is there, Idris, Festus is there and all the others. We are in the middle of a war and the media section is actually the one at the forefront. Sometimes when you are experiencing that fog of war you make mistakes, you say things that perhaps you need not say.
“You may say the right thing at the wrong time and wrong thing at the right time if there’s anything like that. Look, nobody is infallible, nobody is infallible the most important thing is you learn from your mistakes. When it comes to national security, we all need to be exceptionally careful “
He stressed that he never believed that the military is against democracy adding that he was aroused when the allegations mentioned Atiku, and he had to go overboard without looking at the implications.
