Sack Isa Pantami now over religious extremism – CACOL

The Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, demanding the sack of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, over alleged link with violent extremism, acts of fanatism and terrorism by Boko Haram terrorists.

Adeniran noted that after evaluation of the arguments in favour and against the sack of the Minister, the group highlighted that in April 2021, a publication by an online media company linked Pantami to the then leader of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, as allies, and that Pantami has been listed by the American Government under its terrorist watch list.

The group further noted that there are series of audio and video messages of Pantami, which has gone viral on social media, in which the minister purportedly publicly supported the activities of Taliban and Al-Qaida.

Debo Adeniran also noted that “there has been a steady stream of new evidence of the views he held in the past and the latest are documents that appeared online recently.

“The documents are purportedly from a 2010 meeting he chaired at the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), a top Islamic body, where it was agreed that Christians should be prohibited from building churches in city centres across northern Nigeria, which has a majority Muslim population although millions of Christians also live there.”

Adeniran cited that the minister among other things, said, “Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and to al-Qaeda,” and, “This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria.” And in another statement, the minister was cited to have reportedly endorsed the killing of “unbelievers.”

Adeniran further narrated that in a 2006 speech, Pantami publicly offered his condolences after the death of al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The CACOL chairman also noted that in one audio clip, where the minister talked about the Nigerian army’s war against Boko Haram, he appeared to be on the verge of tears as he passionately described the militants as “our Muslim brothers” who did not deserve to be “killed like pigs”.

The CACOL chairman added that in another audio recording, the minister declared he is always happy when infidels are massacred.

CACOL added that audio and video recordings have also emerged of Pantami’s fiery prayers and sermons at different stages of his career as an Imam. “In one sermon he volunteered to lead a force of the Sharia police, Hisbah, to Shendam in Plateau State, where there had been a deadly religious conflict, to fight in defence of the Muslims. So many more extremist views have been attributed to Pantami,” CACOL stated.

Adeniran observed that the minister has not denied the authenticity of these texts, audio and video clips. “In his defence, Pantami argued that he has repented; that he erred as an innocent youth,” CACOL added.

Adeniran pointed out that after the backlash and calls for his resignation continued, Pantami disavowed the statements on April 17, saying “some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.”

CACOL Chairman, thereafter, argued: “President, we wish to state unequivocally that the fact that Pantami has developed the level of orientation that made him uttered those grievous words and statements as stated above, cannot be wished away by mere recanting which some people in your cabinet are claiming he has done.

“Ideological issues are ingrained in the mind of those who pursue it. Even when they denounce it, they are not to be trusted because they can always go back to that conviction that led them into accepting that extremism and for somebody who has said that people should be killed and that he is happy when he sees that and who has supported terrorists in the past, we want to believe that it cannot get out of his mind so easily.”

The chairman further argued: “Moreover, due to the sensitiveness of the Ministry that he is supervising, he can provide information about anybody to the terrorists, because terrorists don’t work with their foot soldiers alone, they also work with those who pretend to be part and parcel of the decent society and Pantami can be some of those conduit pipe through which information are streamed to them.”

Adeniran added that in the area of the security system, the ministry also could have a link with the way security communication are being organised and deployed, alleging that Pantami could sabotage the process by facilitating access to the terrorists to kind of jam the communication system of the military and other security agencies in the country.

“Your Excellency, we are of the opinion that Pantami is a dangerous person that ought not to be a minister of the Federal Republic if all the agencies of government that screened ministerial nominees, including the Senate and the State Security Service, carried out their due diligence before he was sworn in as a Minister.”

Adeniran protested that a situation whereby the Senate would ask a Ministerial Nominee to take a bow showed the level of mediocrity among those in government, considering the fact that governance is a serious administrative endeavour guided by international best practices. “He is, indeed, one of the tares sown by the enemies of the country in your cabinet when Your Excellency was asleep. His continued presence in your cabinet is like leaving a venomous snake under the bed and someone goes to sleep or leaving a spark of fire on the roof and someone goes to sleep.

“He is dangerous to the peace and security of Nigeria; he is a security risk to the nation. Even if he has denounced his extremist orientation, our mind would only be at rest if he is removed.

“Therefore, we are aligning with calls on your office to immediately swing into action by removing and sacking Isa Pantami as Minister of Communication and Digital Economy now and also ask the Department of State Services to investigate him,” CACOL chairman declared.