Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, and the South African presidency have traded words over the alleged exclusion of Nigeria’s delegation from a livestream of the presentation of his letter of credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday.
Fani-Kayode claimed that the South African presidency intentionally cut the Nigerian delegation from the livestream during a meeting in Pretoria that involved 15 ambassadors with Ramaphosa.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the envoy stated that every other ambassador was formally introduced and given the chance to deliver speeches, whereas Nigeria’s presentation was left out of the broadcast.
He said, “Every single one of the 15 ambassadors that were present was introduced formally and gave a speech.
“Curiously, the South African presidency refused to air the introduction of my good self and the Nigerian delegation or to air my speech. They went a step further by cutting us out of the livestream completely and went back on the livestream only after my speech was concluded.
“Of all the 15 introductions and speeches that were made and delivered this morning, only Nigeria’s was cut out.”
The Nigerian envoy stated that he brought the matter to Ramaphosa’s attention, and Ramaphosa questioned the officials in charge and ordered that the issue be resolved without delay.
He added, however, that the intervention came too late, since the Nigerian delegation had already been left out of the broadcast.
“Right there in my presence, he questioned and directed them to resolve the issue immediately.
“Sadly, by then it was too late, and Nigeria had been left out. To be clear, I repeat, we were the only ones that were left out,” he added.
Fani-Kayode proposed that the incident could have stemmed from a conspiracy involving certain people who were against broadcasting his speech.
He added, though, that no fewer than two Nigerian television stations had attended the event and recorded his address, which would be made available to the Nigerian public.
However, Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the South African president, disputed Fani-Kayode’s account and accused him of distorting Ramaphosa’s role in the matter.
Replying to the Nigerian envoy on X, Magwenya stated that the South African president had not stepped in on his behalf, nor had he meddled with the operations of the public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
He explained that Ramaphosa had only referred Fani-Kayode to Sophie Mokoena, who he said was the right person to handle his complaint.
“Your Excellency, you refused to speak to @Sophie_Mokoena, who would have cleared the misunderstanding with you. I would encourage you that as you start your tenure in South Africa, you meet with SABC to forge a mutually beneficial, respectful, and professional relationship,” he said.
Magwenya insisted that the president had neither a legal nor a political mandate to intervene in the broadcaster’s operations or its editorial processes.
He also called Fani-Kayode’s response to what he described as a minor operational matter inappropriate and added that the envoy should engage constructively with various aspects of South African society and its constitutional provisions.
“I wish you well on your tenure, and I hope you begin to engage the various aspects of South African society and its constitutional tenets constructively,” he added.
Speaking with the press, the president of the Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa, Frank Onyekwelu, said he was not present with the delegates in the presidential guest room when the incident occurred.
“We were informed about this issue, and I’m doing an interview with a media platform on the presentation and the cut-off,” Onyekwelu said.
