A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, has called on the country’s security agencies to arrest a Kaduna based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, over his recent public outburst against the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
TheHintsNews reports that Gumi had in a video posted on his official Facebook page last Thursday labelled Wike as a “Satan” for receiving the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria in his office.
The cleric in the sermon also asserted that President Bola Tinubu would be stopped from serving for eight years.
However, Nabena, in a statement issued Sunday condemned what he described as a sense of entitlement by some ‘ethnic and religious bigots’ in the Northern part of Nigeria.
He noted that the people of Niger Delta and Southerners in general would no longer fold their arms while the likes of Sheik Gumi spit on their faces irrespective of political or religious beliefs.
Nabena stated categorically that no Nigerian is more a Nigerian than anybody in Nigeria.
He said: “My intervention in the recent controversial statement is not about the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike alone, it is about the rights of the Niger Delta people and the Southerners in general.
“At this stage, we expect all the voices of reasoning to speak out because the sense of entitlement of the likes of Sheik Gumi is becoming more satanic.
“How can you justify the rationale behind some Northerners heading some positions that are naturally meant for the people of Niger Delta and the South? Up till date a Northerner is still the GMD of NNPCL.
“If religious and ethnic bigots like Gumi and others are saying a Southern Christian, especially from the oil rich Niger Delta, can not hold the positions of FCT Ministry and the Senate President, we demand explanations on what qualifies a North Muslim in the leadership of agencies like NIMASA, NNPCL, NPDC, NLNG, NPA, and so on”
To this end, Nabena warned that no evil must befall the minister throughout his tenure, adding that Gumi and others like him would be held responsible by the Niger Delta people if anything goes wrong.
He maintained that some Northerners’ sense of entitlement was not only dividing the nation but making them to see Southerners as inferior to them in a country where everyone was supposed to have equal rights.
While cautioning against reckless public comments that could lead to a more divided country, Nabena called on the presidency to urgently make a bold statement and reaffirm the right of any Nigerian to hold public office anywhere in Nigeria.
He added: “I will call on the presidency to deliberately caution Sheik Gumi and his co-travellers against statement that is capable of causing disunity and encourage sense of entitlement.
“I will also call on the security agencies to take Gumi’s reckless but deliberate statement serious. Sheik Gumi should be arrested, questioned and prosecuted.
“Let it also be on record that we the Niger Delta sons and daughters will hold Sheik Gumi responsible if any evil befall Nyesom Wike throughout his days in office as FCT Minister.”