Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has lambasted the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign Council for defending Femi Fani-Kayode, the Director of Special Projects and New media of the campaign council.
Fani-Kayode had been grilled by the Department of State Services on Monday and Wednesday for allegedly taking to social media to accuse Atiku and some army generals of plotting to perpetrate a coup.
He had, however, expressed regret over the comment.
But while Fani-Kayode was being grilled by the DSS, he was suddenly invited by the Nigeria Police Force over the same issue. This forced the Tinubu campaign organisation to issue a statement calling on the police to leave Fani-Kayode alone.
However, the special assistant, Public Communications to Atiku, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, in a statement, commended the police for widening the scope of investigation.
Shaibu called on the police not to be intimidated by the Tinubu campaign organisation, insisting that the allegations made by Fani-Kayode were too weighty to be ignored.
He lambasted Tinubu’s campaign organisation for trying to “intimidate the police.”
He added, “We commend the police for widening the scope of investigation by inviting Fani-Kayode over claims of army generals meeting with Atiku with a view to toppling a democratically elected government.
“However, as we had stated earlier, Fani-Kayode is not acting alone. The defense put up by Mr Bayo Onanuga on behalf of Tinubu’s campaign organisation shows that Fani-Kayode has not been acting alone.
“It is obvious that other members of Tinubu’s campaign have information about this supposed coup. They all need to be invited so they can shed more light on the coup.”
Shaibu advised the police not to leave any stone unturned as the probe deepens.
He said Fani-Kayode must not be treated as a sacred cow because he is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Shaibu said the police must not just invite Fani-Kayode but must also grill him with a view to prosecuting him if he is unable to produce the names of the purported coup plotters.
He added, “Fani-Kayode should not just be given a slap on the wrist. He should be prosecuted if he cannot produce the names of the coup plotters.
“On July 7, 2022 Fani-Kayode similarly accused soldiers of complicity in the Abuja-Kaduna train attack and the attack on Kuje prison where hundreds of terrorists were released.
“Till date Fani-Kayode has refused to reveal the identities of the soldiers involved. These are allegations that are too weighty to be ignored. The police and the DSS must thus dig deeper for the sake of national security.”
