I am yet to receive your court papers - Fani-kayode responds to Amaechi's legal threat

Femi Fani-Kayode and Rotimi Ameachi

- The former minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has said he is yet to receive court papers on the proposed defamation suit against him by the minister of transport Rotimi Amaechi 
- The former minister himself and his lawyers are prepared for any legal action 
- Fani-Kayode also said his lawyers will respond appropriately once they receive the legal papers from Amaechi 


The former minister of aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has said he is yet to receive court papers on the proposed defamation suit against him by the minister of transport Rotimi Amaechi. A statement signed by Jude Ndukwe, the special adviser on media to Fani-Kayode said the former minister's lawyers are also ready to respond to Amaechi appropriately.

He said: "We have been inundated with calls concerning about a threat by Rotimi Amaechi to sue Chief Fani-Kayode for defamation over the 43 million USD issue.

"We are not any sleep over this matter. We have not received any court processes or letters from Amaechi but when we do so our lawyers will respond vigorously and appropriately," Ndukwe said. 

Recall that the former minister had earlier alleged that the money discovered from the luxury apartment in Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos belonged to Amaechi. to Fani-Kayode, the Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose and his media aide Lere Olayinka for retraction of their allegations. 

Amaechi in letter said to have been written through his lawyers also demanded an apology and N2 billion as damages from the trio. The minister, who made the demand in separate letters dated April, 14, 2017, through his lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) also gave Fani-Kayode and Olayinka seven-day ultimatum to meet his conditions.

The letter reads in part: “Our client neither owns the cash nor the house where the cash was found and your story and claim are unfounded. As a matter of fact, our client does not own any house in Lagos State not to talk of keeping cash in one and your story is preposterous. 

“Your twitter rant of 14/04/2014 at 04.16 was viewed by your 316. 000 followers, re-tweeted 1,209 times and made a favourite by 434 followers as of the time of writing this letter today at 7.15pm and the list is increasing by the minute and same has satisfied all the conditions needed for a successful defamation case against you.

“We have our client’s mandate to state to you unequivocally that the said twitter publication constitutes libel, and is defamatory of him as same (the claim) is aimed at impugning our client’s character and credit in the eyes of right thinking Nigerians and foreigners.” 

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has denied reports that it gave the National Intelligence Agency the cash stashed in the Osbrone, Ikoyi apartment. The CBN through its spokesperson Isaac Okoroafor said while the apex banks issue mint cash, it only deals directly with banks and not government agencies.