Buhari finally speaks on his minister, Pantami being ‘terrorist’

President Muhammadu Buhari has finally reacted to the allegations surrounding the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

Pantami was recently linked with terrorists’ organisations like Al-Qaeda and Taliban due to his past radical preachings.

The Minister also admitted making such controversial comments but claimed his perception has changed.

It however led to calls for his resignation or sack by the president.

Responding, Buhari berated Nigerians for their harsh disposition towards Pantami and some public officials.

He stated this in a statement signed by his spokesman, Garba Shehu.

The statement partly read: “Today, there is an unfortunate fashion in public discourse that makes leaders in politics, religion, and civil society liable in the present for every statement they have ever made in the past – no matter how long ago, and even after they have later rejected them.

“This insidious phenomenon seeks to cancel the careers of others on the basis of a thing they have said, regardless of when they said it.

“The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is, currently, subject to a “cancel campaign” instigated by those who seek his removal. They do not really care what he may or may not have said some 20 years ago: that is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to “cancel” him. But they will profit should he be stopped from making decisions that improve the lives of everyday Nigerians.

“The Minister has, rightly, apologized for what he said in the early 2000s. The views were absolutely unacceptable then, and would be equally unacceptable today, were he to repeat them. But he will not repeat them – for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.

“In the 2000s, the Minister was a man in his twenties; next year he will be 50. Time has passed, and people and their opinions – often rightly – change.”