Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has defended himself against allegations of being an extremist who is sympathetic to terrorist groups.
The minister said his past comments about terrorist groups, including Taliban and Al-Qaeda were misconstrued.
Pantami said he currently had personal staff who are Christians, such as his driver, secretary and technical assistant.
The minister said this in an interview with Peoples Gazette on Friday. It was the same medium that exposed his past clips where he paid glowing tributes to Osama Bin Laden and said killing of unbelievers gave him joy.
He said, “My personal driver is Mai Keffi, a practising Christian. I also have a Christian, Ms Nwosu, as my secretary and Dr Femi, also a Christian, as my technical adviser.
“If I did not like Christians or I did not see them as my brothers and sisters, I would not have been working with them for so long. I employed more Christians than Muslims on my staff because I believe in merit and competence over ethnic or tribal sentiments.”
“I have never condoned terrorism and I reject any affiliation to terror groups. I have long preached peaceful coexistence amongst people of every faith and ethnicity,” the minister added.
The minister has been under fire from Nigerian youths mostly on Twitter who called for his resignation on account of his past sermon as an Islamic scholar and his romance with key terrorist figures.
A viral video, which was later confirmed by his lawyer, Michael Numa, for instance, showed the minister engaging the late Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in a public debate.
Clips obtained by Peoples Gazette also contained statements that suggested that he was always happy when infidels were massacred.
They were basically three audio recordings of his teachings in the 2000s, when he took extreme positions in support of Al Qaeda and Taliban who were on a campaign to destroy the West and other civilisations.
All these comments have now been disowned by Pantami, who said they were misconstrued.
