Igboho slams Gumi: Don’t threaten Government to negotiation contract with bandits

Chief Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Igboho, has said that the northern Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, cannot use subtle threats to secure his negotiation contract with bandits under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, amid ongoing criticism of Gumi’s recent reported outburst over the appointment of some Christians to strategic positions.

According to the Nigerian Tribune, Adeyemo emphasised that Gumi should not use Tinubu’s choice of ministers and their activities as a guise to seek reckoning or make discreet threats in order to obtain the job of negotiating with mindless bandits and terrorists, as he allegedly did under the previous government of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.

It should be noted that Wike’s recent hosting of Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, in his Abuja office has generated criticism from some quarters, as has a video clip of the popular Islamic cleric decrying the appointment of southern Christians to head strategic positions in the North by Tinubu.

Nonetheless, Adeyemo advised Gumi not to “fanning the embers of disunity in Nigeria with his inflammatory statements,” which he claimed were capable of producing disaffection among the population, in a personally signed statement forwarded to journalists in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

We are aware of Gumi’s history and his methods,” the statement reads. Before Tinubu rose to power, people like him should have been answering inquiries from security services about their involvement in the ongoing insurgency in the country’s northern regions.

We cannot sit idly by while Sheikh Ahmad Gumi sows political discord with his thoughtless, damaging, and inflammatory words in his sermons, even though we will continue to strive for an egalitarian society. No one in authority in Nigeria, no matter how minor, may breach the secularity guaranteed under the country’s 1999 constitution.

We are not fans of the Federal Government, but we continue to be important players in Nigeria’s grand scheme. As a result, reasonable and respectful voices need to be heard by those who exhibit religious fanaticism.

“For peace to prevail, it is the responsibility of everyone to refrain from any action that could provoke mutual suspicion, distrust, and unnecessary crises among Nigerians,” the statement said.