Pantami: Sheikh Gumi says Nigerians will surely regret if minister is sacked

Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has warned that the nation will surely regret it all, if Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is removed from office.

Pressure has been mounted on President Muhammadu Buhari to axe Pantami after his past extremist and fundamentalist views were laid bare in the digital and social media space.

Buhari has backed Pantami instead, agreeing with the embattled minister that he was too young when he rendered his radical remarks.

In an interview with Roots TV, Sheikh Gumi, who was recently contracted by the state to negotiate with terrorists, said there is no evidence that Pantami's terrorist views ever killed anyone, adding that he should be left alone to continue his good work in government.

“You cannot Islamise the whole world. Jesus Christ came; he could not Christianise the whole world. Nobody can Islamise or Christianise Nigeria,” Gumi said.

“All his actions, one hundred percent, shows he is not a terrorist. Those who are terrorists are after his life. The minister should continue. His presence there is fighting the terrorist ideology.

Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami. [Twitter/@FMoCDENigeria] Pulse Nigeria

“Show me one person he has killed. He has not killed anybody. He has not ordered the killing of anybody. Discard the fake news," he said.

Gumi added that Nigeria needs more Pantamis in government.

"The man is stabilising a government among a section of youths, which we want them to come and join in nation-building. They should not throw him away. Leave him. He is not a terrorist sympathiser.

“And you people are fighting them. No. You should get more people like Pantami and put them in power. It will stabilise. Don’t remove him. You’ll regret," the cleric warned.

Pantami has just alerted the world that fresh, doctored videos portraying him in "compromising position", are about to be released to further tarnish his reputation.