The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
has urged the Minister of Communications and Digital Planning, Dr. Isa Pantami,
to ignore calls by some people that he should resign.
There have been calls for Pantami
to resign over his alleged ties to terrorists sects.
Pantanmi, who described the
campaign for him to step down as politically motivated, renounced some the
controversial statements he made in the past.
But that did not stop those who
asked President Muhammadu Buhari to fire him from continuing with their
campaign.
In a statement issued by its
director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC said everyone has their past.
“A section of the Nigerian press
published reports of calls being made by some people for the resignation of Dr.
Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami over the fake news that the US had placed him on its
watchlist. The second allegation was that the minister had made certain radical
pronouncements in the past.
“It is a baseless call and it
should be ignored. After all, the US itself has denied it. Dr. Pantami has been
enjoying unhindered multiple entry to the US for a very long time.
“Even Facebook, the US based social media
giant had Pantami’s picture on Facebook’s digital board for several hours as a
mark of honor and respect during one of his numerous visits to that country.
“The campaign of calumny is being
pushed by forces against the Federal Government’s NIN policy, Boko Haram
terrorists, bandits, criminals in general and political IDPs (Internally
Displaced Politicians). No one who has the love of Nigeria at heart will support
such a malicious and frivolous allegation.
“It is a well-known fact that NIN
is designed to expose the true identity of criminals like Yahoo Yahoo boys,
bandits and kidnappers who use the internet and telephone to extort money from
foreigners and families of kidnapped victims.
“They live a life of Mr. Jekyll
and Hyde : respected gentlemen in the day but dangerous criminals at night and
on lonely alleys.
“They have become jittery ever
since the NIN policy was introduced by Pantami’s Ministry of Communications and
Digital Policy.
“They are among those who stand
to benefit from Pantami’s resignation. As for the political IDPs, their motive
is to ensure that no project initiated by the current administration succeeds.
“The implications of Pantami’s
resignation at this crucial stage are too gloomy to contemplate. It is a
national security issue. The NIN scheme, our hope for dealing a technical blow
on terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping and all sorts of criminality in the
country will suffer suffocating palpitations.
“There will be a break in
monitoring. It is better for us to allow the man who started it to finish it.
If any problem arises after we have changed hands in the middle of its
implementation, the new boss will easily shift the blame. It will then be a
double tragedy. Let the beginner be the finisher. #beginnermustbefinisher
“In the interest of our great
country, Nigeria, we therefore charge Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami to ignore
calls for his resignation. An agitation for resignation which is not based on
sincerity and truth must be resisted by patriots.
“This campaign for the minister’s
resignation is in bad taste. It is pregnant with ulterior motives. Pantami must
not surrender. He must not succumb to cheap blackmail. A captain does not
abandon ship in stormy waters. When the going gets tough, the tough gets
going.”
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