Fani-Kayode Threatens $100m Suit Against Atiku-Linked Lobbyist

Femi Fani-Kayode is threatening to take Karl Von Batten to court for $100 million.

Von Batten, a US-based lobbyist linked to Atiku Abubakar, has announced plans for a $36 million lawsuit involving Fani-Kayode and President Bola Tinubu over allegations that he was threatened with kidnapping and physical harm.

Fani-Kayode has rejected the allegations and says he will counter-sue for at least $100 million.

He has also threatened to seek Von Batten’s extradition to Nigeria over alleged cybercrime and criminal-defamation violations.

There is, however, another question hanging around this story. Fani-Kayode is being widely described in current reports as Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa.

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That appointment is real. He received his Letters of Credence in July after South Africa granted the required agrément.

But Fani-Kayode himself said at the time that the next step was to travel to Pretoria, present his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa and begin his assignment.

I could not independently verify a later formal presentation of those credentials.

That leaves an interesting diplomatic footnote. Nigeria has an envoy who is busy threatening a $100 million lawsuit across the Atlantic while the public record available to us does not clearly establish when he formally presented his credentials in Pretoria.

Diplomacy, apparently, can involve both the foreign ministry and the American courtroom.

The competing allegations have not been tested to judgment. For now, they remain allegations, threatened lawsuits and counter-threats.

The courtroom, if the suits are filed, will have to do what social media cannot: test the evidence. ValidViewNetwork reports.