Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs also known as Jama’atul Nasrul Islam, JNI, has faulted remarks by Governor Nyesom Wike that Rivers is a Christian state, saying such remarks were inconsistent with a governor’s Oath of Office.
Wike made the remarks at a crusade organized by Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Ministries in Port-Harcourt, weekend, adding that he owed no one apology for saying so.,
The spokesman of JNI Mallam Ibrahim Aselemi, said: “The leadership of JNI has borne these utterances of the Rivers State governor with philosophical patience; hoping he will realize his errors. “But the latest outburst by the governor has become a source of worry to the Supreme Council because we believe the statements are divisive, Islamophobic, undemocratic, unconstitutional, inconsistent with his Oath of Office. They are, to a large extent, hate speech.”
When contacted the CAN’s spokesman, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, he declined comments, saying a response to JNI’s allegation of conspiracy of silence on the part of the leadership of the church in Nigeria could heat up the polity unnecessarily
However, a top Christian cleric, who does not want his name mentioned said the JNI could equally be considered guilty of a similar conspiracy of silence when it purportedly shied away from criticizing the imposition of Sharia law in the North and the lopsided appointments by Northern governors which favour Muslims.(vanguard)
