Fani-Kayode acquitted of fraud charges, changes name to Olukayode after court victory

Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has been acquitted of fraud charges by a Federal High court sitting in Lagos.

The presiding judge Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia said the case against him was not strong enough and that prosecutor did not provide “copious evidence” that could link Fani-Kayode to money laundering.

The former spokesperson for the failed re-election campaign of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan said his acquittal was a gift from God and changed his name to Oluwafemi Olukayode as a mark of respect to God.

“As a mark of honour 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.”

In a statement released to journalists after the court judgement, Fani-Kayode said, “It is the doing of the lord and it is marvellous in our sight. Once again, he has proved that he is faithful and true and that he always honours 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.”

He further emphasised that charges against were trumped up and that the EFCC chased shadows for over seven years the case lasted. He said he had been humiliated but that he triumphed at the end according to the promised of God.

“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 honoured 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 Committee on Aviation yet despite that, immediately after the sitting before the Committee, I was abducted and arrested in an unceremonious and shameful fashion and locked up by the Farida Waziri-led EFCC for 10 days and charged to a magistrate court in Abuja.”