MURIC faults CAN over comment on Sultan’s visit to Jonathan

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the Secretary-General of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev. Musa Asake over his comments on the visits of Muslims leaders led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Saad Abubakar, to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Last week, Sultan Abubakar had led a Muslim delegation to the Aso Rock villa to protest the lopsided composition of delegates to the ongoing national conference.

Asake has said that the Muslim leaders, who visited Jonathan under the auspices of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), were attempting to polarize the country along religious lines and to frustrate the ongoing national conference.

Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, said in a statement that it was regrettable that “only four Muslims among the 15 delegates approved for North Central (including Kwara, Niger, and Kogi); only one Muslim among the 15 delegates from the South-West; only two Muslims out of six retired police officers, only one Muslim out of six retired military and security personnel and that only six Muslims made the 20 delegates picked by the federal government.”

He said the facts were “incontrovertible and the Sultan put them before President Goodluck Jonathan. The delegates are there and anybody can do the counting. So what is CAN’s problem? Instead of throwing stones or inciting his followers against the federal government, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar persuaded Muslims to be patient and told them that the matter would be looked into.”