Fani Kayode Shares Experience Via Facebook

Press Statement by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode on the
Occasion of his Victory at the Federal High Court on 1st July
2015.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted, humbled and relieved
by this verdict. In the last seven years, I have been
subjected to the most malicious, vicious, sinister, well-
orchestrated, insidious and devastating form of political
persecution and wickedness.

The whole process almost destroyed my life, my family, my
reputation, my health and my career. I thank God for his
goodness, his mercy and for the fact that today, the whole
nightmare has finally come to an end.
Initially, I was accused of stealing N19.5bn of public funds
when I was Minister of Aviation. It was thrown out by the
courts. Then I was accused of stealing N6.5bn. It was
thrown out by the courts. Then I was accused of laundering
N200m. It was thrown out by the courts.
Then I was accused of laundering N99m. It was thrown out
by the courts. Finally, I was accused of laundering N1m and
N1.1m respectively, and today, both of these charges have
also been thrown out by the courts.
I give thanks to God for today’s verdict. It is the doing of the
lord and it is marvelous in our sight. Once again, he has
proved that he is faithful and true and that he always honors
his word.
I wish to thank my family members, leaders of the Body of
Christ, intercessors, pastors, political associates and friends
who never doubted my innocence and who stood by me
through thick and thin. I wish to thank my lawyers who
worked so hard and so diligently over the last seven years
throughout this case.
I wish to thank the Nigerian judiciary for dispensing justice
in an honest and God-fearing way and for refusing to be
intimidated by anyone or guided by anything other than the
evidence presented before them in this case.
They dispensed justice with candor and fairness, and
throughout the proceedings, they were fair to all, honest,
courageous, professional and true.
I thank them for refusing to send an innocent man to jail
and for refusing to allow themselves to be used as tools for
personal and vindictive vendettas or political persecution.
This gruesome ordeal started seven years ago and
throughout that period, it was grueling and difficult. They
took seven years from me but they couldn't break me or end
my life.
It was a very difficult period for both me and my family
which came with enormous and unimaginable challenges,
yet from day one I never doubted that I would be vindicated
because God had assured me of it and I know the God that I
serve. He never lies and He never fails.
He said, through his Holy Spirit, that my innocence would
speak for me and that he would fight this battle for me and
he did. He said that he is the author and the finisher of my
faith, my shield, my glory and the lifter of my head and he
was.
He has proved all that throughout my life and he has proved
it once again with the verdict in this case. To him alone be
all the glory.
When the ordeal began seven years ago the Lord ministered
that it would last for seven years but that in the end, I would
be declared innocent, I would be vindicated and I would be
delivered.
Again he honored his word because the whole nightmare
started on 1st of July 2008 when I was arrested in the
premises of the Nigerian Senate after the public hearing on
the N19.5 billion Naira Aviation Intervention Fund.
I was cleared of any wrong doing in the administration of
that fund by the Senate Commitee on Aviation yet despite
that, immediately after the sitting before the Comimitee, I
was abducted and arrested in an unceremonious and
shameul fashion and locked up by the Farida Waziri-led
EFCC for 10 days and charged to a magistrate court in
Abuja.
Today, the 1st of July 2015, seven years to the day from
that day when I was first arrested and first put into
detention, I have been discharged and acquitted of all
remaining charges by the courts.
The Lord has, once again, honored his word, to him alone be
the glory.
As a mark of honor and respect for the Lord and as an
everlasting testimony of my love for and dedication to him, I
wish to make it known to the Nigerian public that as from
today my name will be changed.
It will no longer be David Oluwafemi Fani-Kayode but
instead, it shall be David Oluwafemi Olukayode. Olukayode
means "the Lord has brought me joy" and today he has
done precisely that.
As from this day, in honor of him and as a small tribute to
my love for and total dependance on Him, that shall remain
my family name. Once again, I give thanks to God for all
that has happened to me and for this great deliverance. To
him be all the glory.
I swore that I would not leave the shores of Nigeria until this
matter was finally brought to an end and the courts had
pronounced my innocence. That was seven years ago.
I kept faith with that oath and it gives me pleasure to tell you
that now that the whole ordeal is over I shall be leaving the
shores of my beloved country for the first time in seven
years for a short holiday and a long overdue medical
examination.
They not only threw the whole book at me but also the
entire kitchen sink but the Lord was with me. I stood on His
words in Isaiah 50 v.7-9 and I never faltered or doubted Him
even in the most difficult times.
Now they know that I serve a mighty God who never
forsakes His own. I thank the media for their constant
support and attention and I thank the millions of Nigerian
people that chose to believe in me and to keep faith with me
throughout this ordeal. Once again, I give thanks to the
Lord. God bless you all.
Signed:
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode (Chief Oluwafemi Olukayode)
1st July, 2015