A 20-year Nigerian newspaper publication about the country’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, has resurfaced on South African social media following misunderstanding between the envoy and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The old P.M. News frontpage, which featured a story that Fani-Kayode received psychiatric treatment in Ghana, has been widely shared online, with some South African users using it to mock the envoy’s reaction to a recent incident during his presentation of letters of credence.

The trending publication followed a disagreement over an apparent livestream glitch during a diplomatic ceremony held on Friday at the Sefako M. Makgatho presidential guest house in Tshwane, Gauteng.

Mr Fani-Kayode was among 15 ambassadors who presented their letters of credence to Mr Ramaphosa at the event.

However, the broadcast appeared to experience a technical disruption while French Ambassador Antoine Michon, scheduled to speak before the Nigerian envoy, was delivering his address.

The livestream subsequently cut to Mr Ramaphosa addressing the ambassadors, prompting questions about why Mr Fani-Kayode’s speech was not broadcast.

The Nigerian high commissioner later expressed his displeasure in a lengthy post on X, claiming that his speech was cut off. He said he raised the matter directly with Mr Ramaphosa, who, according to him, took him to the relevant officials and acted promptly.

He also said that he declined an interview request from South African public broadcaster, SABC News, because of what he described as the deplorable treatment of the Nigerian delegation.

However, the South African presidency disputed this, accusing him of misrepresenting the President’s involvement in the matter.

Mr Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the President did not intervene in the operations or editorial decisions of public broadcasters.

Mr Magwenya explained that Mr Ramaphosa merely directed Mr Fani-Kayode to Sophie Mokoena, SABC’s acting political and foreign editor, as the appropriate official to address his complaint. He added that the Nigerian envoy declined to speak with her.

Describing Mr Fani-Kayode’s approach as inappropriate over what he called a minor operational misunderstanding, Mr Magwenya urged him to engage constructively with the broadcaster.

Hours after the controversy, the South African presidency published a separate video of Fani-Kayode’s speech on its YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, the resurfaced 2006 report titled “How I was Cured of Madness. Fani-Kayode, OBJ’s Minister Gives Testimony In Church,” continues to circulate online, drawing reactions and criticisms from social media users.