Fani-kayode Withdraws Comments On Bianca Ojukwu

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode,
has withdrawn the statement credited to him that he
had an intimate relationship with the wife of the late
Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Nigeria’s
Ambassador to Spain, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu.
Fani-Kayode, also a former Minister of Culture, in a
statement by his lawyer, Mr. Akinola Babatunde Rotimi,
however, said the claim by Bianca that they were not
friends and had never met was ‘patently false'.
The former minister, who was also a spokesman of
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, insisted that he
knew Bianca in the early mid-80s when he was a
student at the London and Cambridge Universities
respectively.
He noted that they were good friends at the time and
had a few mutual friends who are still alive till date.
The statement stated that though he had not seen
Bianca for over 25 years, he spoke to her on the phone
when her husband passed on last year.
Fani-Kayode had in an article titled: 'Neither a Tribalist
Nor a Hater,' published in the Leadership Newspaper of
Augusts 16 edition to defend himself over his write-up
on the relocation of some Igbo to Anambra State by the
Lagos State Government, alleging that he had “a long
standing and intimate relationship with Bianca Onoh."
But Bianca had through an advertorial published in
some national newspapers, demanded an apology and a
complete retraction of the statement within seven days
or she would institute a legal action against the former
minister.
The Fani-Kayode statement read: “Our client knew
Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu in the early to mid-80's
when he was a student at London University and
Cambridge University respectively.
“They were good friends at the time and they had a few
mutual friends who are still alive today. The bizarre,
absurd and inexplicable assertion that they were not
friends and that Ambassador Ojukwu has never met our
client is patently false.
“Though he has not seen her for over 25 years, he
spoke to her on the phone when her husband passed
on last year. As our client said earlier through his press
secretary, some of the words he used to describe his
friendship with her in his article titled: 'A Word For
Those Who Call Me A Tribalist' were indiscreet. He
hereby withdraws them."
THISDAY also gathered from sources close to Fani-
Kayode that the former aviation minister was making
efforts through emissaries close to Bianca to reach out
to her to resolve the disagreement.
The sources said the former minister was concerned
that the issue had degenerated and would want a
resolution on the misunderstanding.