South Africa and Nigeria have been drawn into a fresh diplomatic controversy after the spokesperson to President Cyril Ramaphosa accused Nigeria’s High Commission of lying over claims that the South African leader intervened in the omission of Ambassador Femi Fani-Kayode’s speech from a televised diplomatic ceremony.

Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, said the President neither intervened nor had the constitutional authority to interfere with the editorial decisions of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

He described the Nigerian mission’s account of the incident as false.

The exchange escalated on Saturday after the Nigerian High Commission stood by Fani-Kayode’s account.

It insisted that the ambassador was treated with contempt and that Ramaphosa had personally intervened to address the complaint.

In a strongly worded response on X, Magwenya said, “Even when it’s institutionalised, a lie remains a lie.

“There was no such intervention from the President or the Presidency and there will never be”, he said.

He further challenged the Nigerian mission to familiarise itself with South Africa’s constitutional provisions and the SABC’s editorial code.

“Read our constitution and laws and familiarise yourself with the SABC editorial code. Stop disgracing yourself and your country,” he said.

The presidential spokesperson had earlier taken issue with Fani-Kayode’s public account of the incident.

He said the Nigerian envoy had wrongly attributed the resolution of his complaint to presidential intervention.

According to Magwenya, Ramaphosa merely directed the ambassador to Sophie Mokoena, whom he identified as the appropriate official to address the grievance.

He said Fani-Kayode declined to engage Mokoena, who could have clarified the circumstances surrounding the broadcast.

Magwenya also described the ambassador’s approach as a minor operational issue as “grossly inappropriate”.

He urged him to establish a professional relationship with the public broadcaster.

However, the Nigerian High Commission rejected the criticism.

It maintained that the incident amounted to an affront not only to Fani-Kayode but also to Nigeria.

“Our Ambassador, H.E. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, was treated with contempt and disdain and by extension so was Nigeria,” the mission said.

It added that Ramaphosa, whom it said Nigeria held in high regard, “did the right thing by intervening.

“We got the result we wanted. End of story”, it added.

The disagreement originated from Friday’s ceremony at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.

At the event, Ramaphosa received letters of credence from 15 ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions.

Fani-Kayode had protested that while the introductions and speeches of 14 other diplomats were broadcast live, Nigeria’s presentation was excluded from the transmission.

He alleged that the livestream was deliberately suspended when it was Nigeria’s turn to speak and resumed after he had delivered his address.

The ambassador subsequently said he confronted the matter directly with Ramaphosa during a photo session after the ceremony.

According to him, the South African President summoned officials responsible for the broadcast and directed them to resolve the problem immediately.

“Right there in my presence he questioned them and directed them to resolve the issue immediately. Sadly, by then it was too late and Nigeria had been left out,” Fani-Kayode said.

He had also expressed appreciation to Ramaphosa for the “timely intervention”, despite his disappointment over the exclusion.

Hours after the protest, the South African Presidency published the full ceremony, including the Nigerian envoy’s speech, on its official YouTube channel.

In the address, Fani-Kayode pledged to rebuild diplomatic relations between both countries.

He recalled Nigeria’s historical support for South Africa during the struggle against apartheid.

He described his appointment as an opportunity to restore confidence, address areas of disagreement and strengthen cooperation between the two African countries.

The controversy comes at a sensitive period in relations between Nigeria and South Africa strained by recurring xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and other African nationals living in the country.

Nigeria’s National Assembly had in September suspended official engagements with South African institutions over concerns about attacks on Nigerians.

Fani-Kayode, who arrived in South Africa in October to assume his diplomatic assignment, had repeatedly pledged to rebuild relations and promote cooperation between the two countries.

His presentation of letters of credence on Friday marked the formal commencement of his diplomatic engagement with Ramaphosa.

The controversy over the ceremony is one of his earliest public disagreements with the South African Presidency. (Weekend Trust)