Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari has called out the Minister for Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
In a cryptic video message posted on her Instagram page, Aisha attacked the minister, calling on him to ‘do the right thing’.
She shared the video on her verified Instagram page with the caption: “A chire tsoro a yi abinda ya dace” (Be courageous to do the right thing)”.
In the video, Pantami burst into tears after his reciter read a verse of the Holy Quran.
“That is the Garden we shall give as their own to those of Our servants who were devout,” read the reciter from Surah Maryam, Verse 63.
In response, Pantami sobbed, “O Allah! Make me one of them. O Allah! Make me one of them!”
Pantami’s past call to Jihad and unalloyed support for murderous groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda portray him as a dyed-in-the-wool Islamic fundamentalist.
Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as communications minister to control the country’s massive data and telephone infrastructure and other sensitive details of national intelligence.
“This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria,’’ Pantami was quoted as saying in one of his vicious preaching in the 2000s.
“Oh God, give victory to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” he was quoted to have also said.
In other audio clips that surfaced online, Pantami was also heard as sympathetic to Boko Haram members when delivering sermons at several worship centres in the 2000s.
However, Pantami claimed he had renounced his radical comments and said his views had changed over time. He said he had in the past 15 years been traversing the country to preach against terrorism.
