13th
March, 2019
FANI-KAYODE IS A LIAR, A
WAR-MONGER
Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode
yesterday claimed that the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the
Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad
Abubakar said Atiku would win if he went to court. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a
former vice president of Nigeria, is the presidential candidate of the main
opposition party in the just concluded 2019 general elections.
Nonetheless, the
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has debunked Fani-Kayode’s claim. MURIC, an
Islamic human rights organization, described Fani-Kayode’s claim as false, baseless
and malicious. MURIC’s reaction was contained in a press release signed by its
Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Wednesday, 13th March, 2019.
Explaining further, MURIC said, “It is unimaginable. Fani-Kayode probably
woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Where and when did His Eminence the
Sultan utter such words? Under what circumstances did he say Atiku would win if
he went to court? Those words exist in the figment of Fani-Kayode’s imagination.
“What the Sultan said was quoted by several media outfits and none
of them mentioned what Fani-Kayode ascribed to him. Addressing President
Muhammadu Buhari in the presence of other traditional rulers, the Sultan said, ‘Your
election as president for the second tenure should be seen as what God has
destined which no man could have changed. This result is the will of Almighty
God and therefore we call on all to give you maximum support for the
achievement of peace, development and progress of our dear nation’. He then
urged Atiku and those who lost to accept the will of God and support President
Muhammadu Buhari to move the nation forward.
“Even on the platform of the Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Sultan
repeated the same message of peace. He said inter alia, ‘We call on all the political
contenders in Nigeria to, in the name of Allah take it easy and sheath their
swords as in every contest there will always be a winner and a loser.
“So where did Fani-Kayode find the words ‘If you go to court you
will win but there will be war’? What kind of editorial abracadabra inserted
those words in His Eminence’s statement? It is diabolical and highly
disrespectful. It is an attempt to cast aspersion on our leader. It is not only
defamatory but slanderous.
“Fani-Kayode’s article was full of the most odious and insidious anti-North
cum anti-Muslim vituperations and we are wondering if he knows the true
identity of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. He spat venom against Northerners and
Muslims as if Atiku hails from a different background.
“In the same vein,
Fani-Kayode goaded Atiku and his supporters to go to war as if another country
has been created for them to sojourn after setting Nigeria on fire. He spoke of
his ‘brothers and sisters in the Lord’ being slaughtered in cold blood. For
crying out loud, where do you group Atiku in all these? In which camp will
Atiku be if you start your bloody war?
“There is no gainsaying that Fani-Kayode is a bundle of
contradictions. You want to wage a crusade against Muslims but you are asking a
Muslim to be your conquering knight. You want to destroy the North but you have
chosen a core Northerner as the generalissimo. Is Fani-Kayode confused? Is he manifesting symptoms of Orubebemantis? Is he going paranoid? Whether the answers to these questions is yes or no, we have no scintilla of doubt that Fani-Kayode’s gymnastic
war-mongering will fail woefully and Nigeria will survive.
“Fani-Kayode seeks to whip
up cheap sentiment over killings as if only his ‘brothers and sisters in the
Lord’ are the only victims. Who are those being killed in Borno, Zamfara and
Katsina? Is it not the Muslims? Whose mosques are being bombed?
“MURIC affirms for
the umpteenth time that Nigerian Muslims do not want war. We want to coexist
peacefully with our Christian neighbours. The Sultan is an established man of
peace. That is what he has been working for since he ascended the throne. That
is why he is known as the people’s Sultan. We are not surprised that calumny is
what Fani-kayode has to offer such a great leader. People can only give what they
have anyway.
“Again for the sake of microscopic clarity, we assert that Sultan
Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar as the head of all Nigerian Muslims is a non-partisan
personality. He has no interest in any political party or leader. He is a
father-figure and all are his children. All political leaders visit him and he
owes it a duty to listen to all of them. He remains neutral at the end of the
day.
“As we draw the
curtain, we invite Fani-Kayode and his cohorts to desist from brandishing
banners of lies, to embrace the philosophy of peaceful coexistence, to love his
neighbor like himself and to join hands with the Sultan and other well-meaning
Nigerians to lift Nigeria to a higher pedestal. We advise Nigerian politicians
to keep away from drugs so that their minds can remain focused while their
actions remain consistently rational.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC)
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