‘We don’t align with political parties’ — Femi Kuti hits APC over shirts bearing Fela’s name

The eldest son of Fela, Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti has called out the All Progressives Congress (APC) for using a caption of the late musician on its campaign shirts.

On Tuesday, the Twitter handle of the APC had put out a photo of campaign shirts bearing a caption made famous by Fela.

“To be spiritual is not by praying and going to church. Spiritualism is the understanding of the universe so that it… Fela Kuti,” the inscription read.

In his reaction, Femi stated that his family owns Fela’s name and that the use of it is an infringement and apathy of legal rights.
He also instructed that the tweet be taken down as the family does not identify with any political party in Nigeria and beyond.

“I have seen the tweet by @APCNigeria and confirm that use of Fela’s name on the T-shirts bearing the name ‘JAGABAN’ was never authorized,” he wrote.

“The family owns the trademark and the use constitutes an infringement and disregard of our legal rights.
The user is advised to cease and desist and also to immediately delete this tweet.

“The family does not align with any political party in Nigeria or beyond.

“We are carefully assessing the situation and failure to comply with this demand will leave us with no other option but to explore any legal options that are available to us.”

The APC has not comment on Femis tweet.

Femi Kuti in September 2020 had explained that he dismissed requests from Yemi Osibnajo, vice-president, to join the ruling party.

“I want to state for clarity and posterity my role in the Ojota protest. I was invited for what I and many believed was a genuine cause regarding the cost of fuel,” the veteran singer had written on Twitter.

“As soon as I found it was politically motivated I pulled out. I got a lot of backlash at the time but stood my ground. For the record, I have NEVER and will NEVER affiliate with any political party.

“…that I don’t feel has the genuine interest of the people of Nigeria at heart. Even when the VP approached me to join APC, I blatantly refused as I also refused to join PDP or any other party.

“My main reason was president Buhari jailing my father in the 80s. Second, I didn’t believe any of the two major political parties had/have the genuine interestest of the Nigerian people at heart.”