The President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke has described the retention of Isah Pantami as a minister in the cabinet of President Mohammadu Buhari as absurd and ludicrous.
Pantami, Nigeria’s Minister for Communication and Digital Economy has lately come under fire for the inciteful Pro-terrorism comments he made some years ago.
But Bishop Oke who is also the President of Sword of the Spirit Ministry said in a statement issued on Monday by PFN Media Department that Isah’s retention as minister is unjustifiable.
The statement was signed by PFN’s National Publicity Secretary, Bishop Emmah Gospel Isong.
Oke also decried the way President Mohammadu Buhari’s led government is defending Pantami; despite the public outcry against him.
He noted that the government’s defense of Pantami is an indication that it is not sincere in its fight against Boko Haram insurgency and other related security challenges facing the country.
Pantami: He should resign or be sacked
According to Bishop Oke, the controversy currently generated by the Pantami saga was “needless as he (Pantami) ought to have resigned or be sacked on account of his past complimentary stance on Boko Haram and the insurgents”
The statement reads in part, “That Pantami is still in Buhari’s government, tells much about who we are and the mockery that trails us. What is the man still doing in government; why has he not resigned or why has he not been sacked by the government? More questions than answers or are we running a government of abradacabra, the more you look, the less you, see?”
The PFN President described Buhari’s government’s supposed fight against insurgency, banditry, and the like as a facade.
“To us at the PFN, the Buhari’s government is not sincere in its alleged war against Boko Haram, killer herdsmen, and other criminalities.
Do we have to look beyond our shoulders for the sponsors of the mindless killings and bloodshed currently ravaging our country? The answer is no! The government knows them” the statement added.
The PFN president insisted that things would continue to go wrong for the nation unless the government and its people learn to be just and righteous.
He demanded that those behind various heinous crimes in the country be made to face the law no matter how highly placed they are.
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“Regardless of our religions, where we come from, and who we are, Nigeria belongs to us all as enshrined in our constitution. That’s sacrosanct and must strictly be adhered to and respected by all”
Bishop Oke bemoaned the criminal activities festering under Buhari’s government saying; it is the consequence of the “kid gloves” treatment of those behind the crimes.
“We want to urge President Buhari to rise above primordial sentiments and sectional attachments in dealing with the issue at hand. Frankly speaking, things are no longer at ease for the nation and its people. We want a Nigeria that we can proudly call our own. The one we are all living in is nothing to write home about” he lamented.
Oke then called on the government to do all within its power to ensure that the sponsors of criminal activities in the country were not only fished out; but brought to book in accordance with the law of the land.