Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode on Tuesday said he was insulted by the Daily Trust reporter, Eyo Charles, and as such he had no apology to offer for taking it out on the reporter.
He stated this in his formal statement on the encounter with the journalist in Calabar, Cross River State.
According to him, “During my tour of the South and after a long and successful press conference in Calabar, Cross Rivers state, a journalist put up his hand for the last question and said, ‘Well we do not know who is bankrolling you.
“This is not a question but an assertion and an insult.
“And if this insulting ASSERTION were made before Trump or OBJ, I know how they would have reacted.
“Below is my response and I have no apology to offer for it:
“The Former Minister of Aviation added that the young man apologised to him during the press conference and sent his apologies to him after the conference.
“I have accepted his apologies in good faith and moved on.
“I have always had respect for journalists and I always will. Those of them that know me or have worked with or for me over the last 30 years can attest to that.
“However, there is a distinction between asking a question and offering a gratuitous insult,” he said.
Fani-Kayode further stated that it was clear to him that the assertion was sponsored and engineered by his political enemies who wanted to use the young man to insult and embarrass him and question his integrity.
“Well they got more than they bargained for. I repeat this was not a question but an assertion and an insult and I will not accept that from any man born of woman. Thank you,” he added.
Fani-Kayode said he has taking note of the report by Daily Trust on the incident and denied sending his security men to threaten the reporter.
“I have taken note of the report by Daily Trust on the incident. The content is false. I didn’t send any of my security men to threaten their reporter.
“I only reprimanded him for a premeditated plan to embarrass me and he apologised thereafter. That was all.
“This is not a battle between me and the esteemed Nigerian journalists who respect the ethics of the noble profession.
“I have always been and will always be a friend to journalists and a champion of freedom of speech. What I will not accept are brazen insults from an individual in the name of journalism.
“The assertion or assumption that I am being bankrolled by anyone is deeply insulting,” he said.
He also accused the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) of not listening to his own side of the story.
“Finally, to the NUJ, I say you have got me completely wrong. It would have been better if you had heard my own side of the story and established who was behind this whole incident and attempt to embarrass me, who paid for it and how much they paid before going to press. Nevertheless, I still hold you in high esteem,” he said.
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