A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and two-time Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has urged his friends Joy Nunieh and Godswill Akpabio to sheath their swords before things get out of hand.
He said this on Monday, after the two took to the public space to throw allegations and counter-allegations of fraud, sexual harassment and embezzlement at each other on the issue of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who said he is friends to both Joy Nunieh and Akpabio, taking to his social media described the qualities of both Joy Nunieh and Akpabio, where in a series of tweets on his official Twitter handle on Monday 13th July 2020, he said:
“I have known Joy Nunieh for many years. She is a tough cookie and exceptionally intelligent. She is NOT crazy, wayward or flippant. She is a beautiful, righteous &principled lady who is a brilliant lawyer &who has always had the courage of her convictions. She is also a fighter.
I appeal to both her and my old friend and brother Godswill Akpabio, who I have always liked & who I have immense respect for despite our political differences, to sheath their swords. The only people that benefit from this public spat are those that hate & seek to mock,” he started his tweets.
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode continued saying:
“The people of the Niger Delta & those that have nothing but contempt & disdain for the Nigerian people generally. The matter has already hit the int. airwaves & it is scandalous. When you marry it to the Hushpuppy mess & the Magu meltdown it puts our country & people in.
A very precarious situation in the international community. Whatever the issues are between the Minister &the former NDDC MD, let them be ironed out behind closed doors quietly & let whoever may have done any wrong be sanctioned by the President &if necessary the security agencies.
That is how these things are done at such high levels. It must not degenerate into a holds barred market place ‘bolekaja’ slugfest where anything goes. And whatever the case, peoples private lives, how many husbands they have had, the challenges they may have had in marriage and issues of sexual molestation in the office should not be part of this.
To take it to that shameful level is simply sordid and well beneath both parties who I know very well. There ought to be some limitations, decency and decorum in this.
There must be certain lines and boundaries that must never be crossed. Both Godswill and Joy are just too good for this show of shame.
Again I appeal to them both: SHEATH YOUR SWORDS before the matter gets to a point of no return, someone takes advantage of it and something frightful, untoward and regrettable happens. May God grant you both the wisdom to accept my humble counsel and may He watch over, lead and guide you both,” he added.
The statement from Femi Fani-Kayode comes, after Joy Nunieh, former acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), had said that she slapped Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, for sexually harassing her.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on Arise TV, Joy Nunieh said the incident happened at the minister’s guest house in Abuja.
She said her reaction to the alleged harassment proved her intolerance for “nonsense” as a woman from Rivers state.
“Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only woman that slapped Akpabio. He thought he could come up on me. He tried to harass me sexually,” she said.
“I slapped him. He tried to come on me. I am an Ogoni woman and nobody jokes with us. I showed Akpabio that Rivers women do not tolerate nonsense.”
The former NDDC MD also accused Akpabio of trying to inflate the NDDC budget.
She said the minister directed her to include some projects from the refugee commission in the budget of the NDDC.
“Akpabio wrote me to put a list of projects from the refugee commission in the budget of NDDC. Refugee commission is another federal government commission for IDPs,” she said.
“How do you tell me to put some of their projects in the NDDC budget when we have so many things to do in the Niger Delta? How do you explain that?”
Nunieh and Akpabio have made allegations against each other following the activities of the senate ad hoc panel investigating the alleged mismanagement of N40 billion by the interim management committee (IMC) of the NDDC.
Akpabio had told the panel that he knew nothing about the expenditure of the NDDC under Joy Nunieh because she refused to give him briefings. But Nunieh alleged that the minister engineered her removal for failing to follow his illegal orders.
“When we first came to the NDDC, on the day of going for the inauguration, he told me in the car that Madam MD, If you don’t do what I say, the same pen which I use to sign your letter, it will be the same pen I will use to remove you,” she had said.
Joy Nunieh also alleged that Akpabio asked her to change the dollars in the NDDC account; sack the head of the legal team who is from the north; remove all directors who refused to follow his instructions and also to implicate Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the Senate committee on NDDC.
Reacting, Akpabio, who appeared on a television programme, said: “She (Nunieh) was not removed from office because of corruption. She was relieved of her appointment because of insubordination.
“My ministry (Niger Delta Affairs) that was supervising her commission (NDDC) sent her several letters. But she never replied any and she said she was bigger than the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
“Akpabio never said she was removed because of corruption, she was removed from office because she did not show evidence of completing her NYSC after we got petitions that somebody who has no NYSC certificate was allowed to head an important office as the Managing Director of NDDC.
“In response, she forwarded several letters, including a letter from the Nigerian Law School and affidavit, which you can see do not add up.
Meanwhile, Nunieh told the Senate committee that only N8 billion was expended by the agency from October 29, 2019, to May 31, 2020, when she held sway contrary to the figure being bandied around.