Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Yekini Nabena, has challenged the country’s security agencies to arrest a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, over his recent public outburst against the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.
The APC chieftain condemned what he called a sense of entitlement by some ‘ethnic and religious bigots’ in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Nabena warned that no evil must be before the minister throughout his tenure, adding that Sheik Gumi and others like him will be held responsible by the Niger Delta people if anything goes wrong.
On Thursday, the Cleric had in a video sermon of over 14 minutes posted on his official Facebook page, labelled Wike as “Satan” for receiving the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria in his office. The cleric in the sermon also asserted that President Tinubu would be stopped from serving for eight years.
Reacting to the development through a statement released to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, the Bayelsa-born APC chieftain said some Northerners’ sense of entitlement is not only dividing the Nation but making them see Southerners as inferior to them in a country where everyone is supposed to have equal rights.
Nabena said the people of Niger Delta and Southerners, in general, will no longer fold their arms while the likes of Sheik Gumi spit on their faces irrespective of political or rereligiouseliefs.
According to the APC chieftain, 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 right 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 to 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-richer 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
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.
“I will call on the presidency to deliberately caution Sheik Gumi and his co-travellers against the statement that is capable of causing disunity and encouraging a sense of entitlement.
I will also call on the security agencies to take Gumi’s reckless but deliberate statement seriously. 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,” Nabena warns.
