REACTION TO A SPURIOUS ALLEGATION AGAINST MY PERSON BY COMMODORE MICHAEL FOLUSHO DANIEL, RTD

1. My attention has been drawn to a spurious allegation by Commodore Folusho Daniel that I am planning to maim, kidnap or kill him ahead of the Kogi State Governorship Election coming up on November 11, 2023.
2. The allegation coming on a day my Team and I secured high profile decamping from the opposition People’s Democratic Party in his Ward has a marked pointer to a misdirected anger and frustration by someone who is afraid of an imminent loss politically.
3. The language, manner and construction of the allegation is ludicrous, laughable, unfounded, unnecessary, false and concocted to malign and injure my reputation with a clear intent of character assassination.
4. Over the years, I have maintained my stoic restraints in joining issues with the retired Navy Commodore Michael Folusho Daniel, due to the respect I have for him and my past relationship with him. But falsely pinning criminality on me without any iota of truth or proof of evidence is crossing the RED LINE which will not be accepted. He has succeeded in breaking the tape.
5. Politics is a game of numbers, a contestation for superior argument and conviction. That was what we did on October 18, 2023 by visiting a real grassroots politician in Orokere Amuro Ward 06 to woo him to support our candidate and party ahead of the November 11 election. How a pure democratic engagement has turned into a “plan to main, kill or kidnap” is what has been a laughing stock in the circle of reasonable men today .
6. It is heart rendering that I will have to be very drastic against the man I held in high esteem and have respected all my life. I have children, siblings, supporters and people who aspire to my character. For this reason, I have chosen to use every legal means to prove my innocence and to let the world see how desperation could push people into unfounded lies, false claims and ignoble exasperation.
7. At the end of this particular tunnel, the society will learn a lesson. I have never plotted evil against any soul and will never do that by my training, upbringing and religion. There are more noble ways to explain one’s frustration at a possible loss. Commodore Michael Folusho Daniel, RTD has chosen the path of character assassination and will surely answer questions in the law court, by the grace of God Almighty.
8. I urge all my supporters to exercise restraint and not say things that would earn him the undeserved public sympathy he craves. We have risen above those waters and he will have to prove his allegations. It is his responsibility in line with the Latin Maxim in Law that “semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit” (the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges).
9. All of us must remain peaceful, calm and focus on the task ahead. We must avoid acts that could overheat the system and must not allow distraction. We won’t dance in the mud of false allegations and cheap propaganda but we will take them to the clean waters of civility and proof of innocence. It will be a battle of law and not a battle of insults.
10. I want to thank all that have called to offer their support and advice. We have taken cognizance of all your advice. We will not be cowed by the weak torrents of falsehood and derogatory antics of spent forces. We come in peace, but we mean business.

Kingsley Femi Fanwo (KFF)

Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications

19th October, 2023.