Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says Nigerians will regret it if embattled Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is removed from office.
Gumi, who recently met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and recommended special courts to try bandits and kidnappers, also said the country needed more people like Pantami in government.
The controversial cleric spoke on Monday in an interview with Roots TV monitored by newsmen.
He said, “All his (Pantami’s) actions, one hundred percent, shows he is not a terrorist. Those who are terrorists are after his life. The minister should continue. His presence there is fighting the terrorist ideology.
“Show me one person he has killed. He has not killed anybody. He has not ordered the killing of anybody. The man is stabilising a government among a section of youths, which we want them to come and join in nation-building. They should not throw him away. Leave him. He is not a terrorist sympathiser.
“And you people are fighting them. No. You should get more people like Pantami and put them in power. It will stabilise. Don’t remove him. You’ll regret.”
Pantami, a former director-general with the National Information Technology Development Agency, is the only member of the Federal Executive Council from Gombe State.
He has come under fire over his past controversial comments on terrorist groups including Taliban and Al-Qaeda. After initial denials, the minister later denounced his radical comments, saying he now knows better.
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari recently exonerated the minister, saying that he should be forgiven because he made the statements at a much younger age but Nigerians have been unsparing and relentless in the call for the sacking of the minister.
