Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, says he will not apologise for insulting a journalist in Calabar, Cross State capital.
Mr Fani-Kayode, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had visited the state and spent a week touring project sites in the state. At the end of the tour, he held a press conference where he praised Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, for doing much despite the lean resources accruing to the state.
As the press briefing was about coming to an end, the last question asked by a journalist from a national daily who inquired to know the source of his tour expenditures nationwide angered the former minister who then insulted the inquisitive questioner as being “very stupid.”
Defending his outburst, the PDP chieftain, who has toured several states of the federation, said although the journalist apologised which he has accepted, the question was been sponsored by his critics who used the journalist in a bid to embarrass him.
In a Tuesday statement, Fani-Kayode described the question as insulting on his personality and he has no apology to offer for his reaction while pledging his continuous respect for media practitioners.
Sharing a video clip of the outburst on social media, he said, “I have no apology to offer for it.”
“Those of them that know me or worked with or for me over the last 30 years can attest to that. However there is a distinction between asking a question & offering an insult,” his statement partly read.
“This is all the more so when it is clear that the assertion was sponsored and engineered by my political enemies who wanted to use the young man to insult and embarrass me and question my integrity. Well they got more than they bargained for.
“I repeat this was not a question but an assertion and an gratuitous insult and I will not accept that from any man born of woman. Thank you,” he added.
