Fani-Kayode Accuses S’African Presidency of Excluding His Speech from Letters of Credence Presentation Livestream

Femi Fani-Kayode has accused the South African presidency of excluding his speech from its livestream of a ceremony where he presented his letters of credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Fani-Kayode presented his letters of credence as Nigeria’s high commissioner to South Africa, alongside 14 other ambassadors on Friday at the Sefako M. Makgatho presidential guest house in Tshwane, Gauteng.

The South African presidency livestreamed the ceremony on YouTube.

Each ambassador delivered a brief speech before presenting their letters of credence.

Fani-Kayode was the last diplomat to present his credentials, following Antoine Michon, the French ambassador to South Africa.

However, the livestream appeared to suffer a glitch while Michon was delivering his speech.

The broadcast subsequently cut to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the ambassadors.

However, in a lengthy post on X after the ceremony, Fani-Kayode said the South African presidency had “refused” to air his speech.

“They went a step further by cutting us out of the livestream completely and went back on livestream only after my speech was concluded,” he wrote.

Fani-Kayode said he raised the issue directly with Ramaphosa during the photo session, adding that “in fairness to him, he took me to the relevant officials and acted with despatch”.

“Right there in my presence he questioned them 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.

“Clearly some elements in South Africa do not want to hear what we have to say or see our faces, but we are here to stay as long as we are welcome and have the confidence of President Ramaphosa, which I am sure we do.”

Fani-Kayode said he turned down an offered interview by SABC News, the South African state broadcaster, “as a consequence of the deplorable way we were treated”.

The ambassador said he would later release a recording of his speech, which was captured by two Nigerian television stations at the event, as well as footage of him complaining directly to Ramaphosa.