President Bola Tinubu has reportedly approved the redeployment of former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to South Africa.

The development followed reports that Germany rejected Fani-Kayode’s earlier ambassadorial posting to a European country.

According to reports by Beadysword Blog, the German government allegedly rejected his nomination over concerns linked to his past controversial statements, including comments described as ethnic, tribal and religious.

The report also claimed German authorities cited what they described as “erratic behaviour” and divisive public remarks made by the former minister over the years.

President Tinubu had earlier approved Fani-Kayode’s posting to a Central European country on March 6, 2026, before the reported rejection by Germany days later.

The situation reportedly came shortly after Fani-Kayode was involved in a heated exchange with Richard Montgomery during a Ramadan dinner in Abuja hosted by Senator Bashir Lado.

However, reacting to the reports in a post shared on X, Fani-Kayode denied being rejected by Germany.

According to him, he personally declined the Germany posting and chose South Africa instead.

The former minister remains one of Nigeria’s most controversial political figures due to his outspoken comments on politics, religion and ethnicity.

In 2020, he faced criticism after verbally attacking a journalist during a press conference in Calabar, Cross River State, after being asked who was funding his nationwide tour.

He later apologised following public backlash.

Fani-Kayode has also faced several legal battles involving allegations of fraud, money laundering and forgery brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

However, courts later dismissed the cases between 2024 and 2025 after prosecutors reportedly failed to directly link him to the alleged offences.

As of the time of this report, there has been no official statement from the Nigerian government confirming the reason behind his redeployment to South Africa.