Former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode has announced that President Bola Tinubu approved his appointment as Nigeria’s Ambassador-Designate to South Africa after he requested a redeployment from Germany.

Fani-Kayode disclosed this in a post on his X handle on Thursday, explaining that he was initially posted to Germany but later wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting a transfer to South Africa for personal and diplomatic reasons.

According to him, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, approved the request and forwarded it to Tinubu for final approval.

Fani-Kayode said he preferred South Africa because of its closer ties with Nigeria, its role as Africa’s biggest economy, and what he described as a stronger alignment with his pan-African foreign policy views.

He also revealed that the redeployment involved a swap arrangement with Sam Enang, who was initially posted to South Africa but preferred Germany.

The former minister dismissed reports claiming Germany rejected his appointment, describing the reports as false and malicious.

He stated that no formal rejection was issued by Germany and said he had instructed his lawyers to begin legal action against the publication responsible for the claim.

Fani-Kayode thanked Tinubu and Tuggar for approving the redeployment and expressed readiness to serve Nigeria in South Africa.