Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, has finally addressed his alleged connection with terrorists.
He said he had no connection with or sympathy for them and that comments he made in the past, which were pro-extremists like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda., were made when he was not mature.
According to him, he is mature now and he has renounced them.
A ‘Daily Trust’ report indicates that he spoke while answering questions during his daily Ramadan lecture at Annor Mosque in Abuja on Saturday.
“For 15 years, I have moved round the country while educating people about the dangers of terrorism. I have traveled to Katsina, Gombe, Borno, Kano states and Difa in Niger Republic to preach against terrorism.
“I have engaged those with Boko Haram ideologies in different places. I have been writing pamphlets in Hausa, English and Arabic. I have managed to bring back several young persons who have derailed from the right path.
“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.
“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later,” Daily Trust quoted Pantami as saying.
There has been heat on Pantami, with many alleging that he could be in support of radicals/insurgents like the Boko Haram.
Many have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to take him up and probably relieve him of his job, with the suggestion that he needed be watched and investigated.
The PUNCH also noted that the Nigerian Twitter community also said the minister could not be trusted with the data of Nigerians, especially with the ongoing National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module integration exercise under his watch.
In a viral video recorded many years ago which was later confirmed by his lawyer, Michael Numa, the minister was seen engaging the late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in a public debate.
Pantami, an Islamic scholar, according to Peoples Gazette, also once declared that he was always happy when infidels were massacred.
Peoples Gazette said Pantami’s comments were contained in three audio recordings of his teachings in the 2000s, when he took extreme positions in support of the brutal exploits of Al Qaeda and Taliban elements on a campaign to obliterate the West and conquer other parts of the world.
