"Buhari not pushing anti-Christian agenda"

 Muslims Rights Concern, MURIC, yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari had not promoted any anti-Christian agenda since he assumed office in 2015.


MURIC  stated this in a statement to counter the allegations of religious bias levelled against President Buhari by  National Christian Elders Forum, NCEF.

NCEF had, among other allegations,  claimed some Islamists in power were considering truncating the nation’s democracy and replacing it with Sharia, if they failed to remain in government after the 2019 elections.

But MURIC pointed out that more Christians than Muslims made up the Federal Executive Council, FEC.

It noted that the state of insecurity in the country created more Muslims IDPs than Christian IDPs, saying it was baseless to claim that the killings across the country were targeted at annihilating Christians.

According to Executive Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, the Islamic human rights body also said  several Muslim figures, including ex-NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, had been caught in the web of government’s anti-corruption efforts chaired by Ibrahim Magu, contrasting the claim by the NCEF that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was an arm of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, used in fighting stealth Jihad.

He said in a statement:“Christians have more cabinet positions in this regime. Christians and Muslims have 18 ministers each but both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as well as the Head of Service are Christians.”

“This gives Christians 20 positions while Muslims remain 18.  Yet Muslims have not started complaining. NCEF’s vituperations are portraying Nigerian Christians in bad light and that is to say the least.

“It has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that more Muslims have fallen victims (of terror attacks) and the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) which has risen above 1.5 million Muslims has further cemented this position. Therefore, NCEF is merely crying wolf where none exists with its allegation that the present generation of Christians in Nigeria may cease to exist in 25 years from now.

“One of the wicked claims of NCEF is that only Christians are being haunted and jailed by EFCC. Col. Sambo Dasuki has been in detention for almost three years. Did NCEF hear of any claim from JNI or from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) that a Muslim is being persecuted? What of the former governors of Niger and Jigawa states? Are they not Muslims and have they not fallen under EFCC axe?”