Germany rejects Tinubu’s appointment of Femi Fani-Kayode as ambassador over rabid ethnic, religious slurs – Report

Germany has rejected Femi Fani-Kayode’s ambassadorial posting over rabid ethnic and religious slurs, Peoples Gazette can exclusively report.

President Bola Tinubu, on March 6, approved the posting of the former minister to a Central European country as an ambassador-designate. However, The Gazette exclusively learnt on Sunday that the German government rejected Mr Fani-Kayode’s posting to the country on March 13, 2026.

The German government said it rejected Mr Fani-Kayode’s nomination due to his “erratic behaviour, controversial past statements, particularly his divisive ethnocentric, tribalistic, and religious fundamentalist comments in Nigeria”, which the European country said was “destabilising”.

Mr Fani-Kayode’s rejection by Germany came days after the former minister insulted the United Kingdom’s high commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, during an argument at a Ramadan dinner hosted by Senator Bashir Lado, the president’s special adviser on Senate matters, at his Abuja home.

The rejected ambassador-designate could not be reached immediately for a comment on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a senior administration official told The Gazette that he might be redeployed to South Africa as an ambassador.

Mr Fani-Kayode, one of the prominent political figures Mr Tinubu appointed as ambassadors, is infamous for his unsavoury utterances and controversial, sometimes divisive, writings on social media and in newspapers.

In August 2020, Mr Fani-Kayode verbally insulted a journalist after the reporter questioned the funding for his tour of states across the country at the time.

During a press conference in Calabar, Cross River, Mr Eyo asked the politician, “Who is bankrolling you?”

Irate Mr Fani-Kayode responded by calling the journalist “stupid” and his question “insulting”. Following public backlash, Mr Fani-Kayode later apologised for his remarks.

Again, Mr Fani-Kayode came under public scrutiny over a child custody dispute with his estranged wife, Precious Chikwendu.

The former minister had also been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with fraud, money laundering, and forgery over an 18-year period.

However, between 2024 and 2025, the courts dismissed the EFCC cases, which included alleged fraudulent receipt of N4.9 billion, laundering N200 million, and later N8 billion, and forgery of medical reports, on the grounds that the prosecution team failed to link Mr Fani-Kayode to the alleged offences.(Peoples Gazette)