Unpatriotic elements behind calls for Pantami’s resignation, group says

A coalition of civil society organisations, the Civil Society Forum of Nigeria, Monday, blamed the calls for the resignation of Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy over his past comments on the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, on unpatriotic elements bent on derailing the steady progress being made under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This is even as the group reiterated the position of the embattled Minister that his sermons in the past were largely influenced by information available to him at the time.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Head of the coalition, Olayinka Dada described Pantami as a man desirous of availing his country the expertise and sacrifice needed to turn her fortune around. According to him, the ongoing National Identification Number, NIN registration exercise, a brainchild of the Minister, is making a lot of criminally-minded elements uncomfortable, hence their agitation for his removal at all cost.

“The huge cry about #PantamiMustGo is an attempt to derail President Muhammadu Buhari’s government from resolving the insecurity problems bedeviling Nigerian and Nigerians.

“As a young cleric, Sheikh Isa Pantami like other devoted clerics, sermonised in favour of his religious beliefs. The research available as at then prompted those beliefs. As time progresses and his educational pursuit increases, he stoutly stood for humanity through various efforts at ensuring peaceful religious coexistence and harmonious relationships amongst all people. Suffice to say that Sheik Isa Pantami grew from Islamic cleric to becoming a global peace enabler that he is today.

“The truth is that blackmailers are playing a script prepared by the enemies of Nigeria. The Minister is being attacked for the genuine reforms being championed by him in the fight against insecurity with the NIN initiative linking citizens phone numbers capable of identifying major criminals and their sponsors.

“Both as a private and public citizen, the Minister has displayed rare patriotism in ensuring the correctness and accuracy of the most important data which confirms who a Nigerian citizen is. Going further, the compulsory NIN registration is capable of identifying economic looters, political brigands, insurgents, kidnappers, internet fraudsters and all criminals alike,” Dada said.

The NIN initiative, the coalition added, is being rejected “by elements that are in the business of profiting through crimes against the nation.”

Fielding questions from journalists on the sideline of the briefing, Dada said Pantami’s ordeal bears no relationship with Kemi Adeosun’s, the former Minister of Finance who resigned her appointment a few years owing to certificate forgery.

“Pantami did not forge any certificate and did not lie on oath. So, it is pointless to compare this with the issue related to the former Minister,” he stressed.

Breaking: ASUU suspends 2-week warning strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has suspended its two-week warning strike it declared last week across all public universities in the country. The union announced the suspension on Wednesday at a press conference held at its headquarters in Abuja. President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, who read a prepared speech before newsmen, explained that the development followed intervention by the Senate and some other well-meaning Nigerians. However, he sad the National Executive Council of the Union resolved to give the government a one-month window to address all contending areas.

JUST IN: If Tinubu Had Told Me, I Wouldn’t Have Agreed To Rivers State Of Emergency Rule – Wike

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has stated that he would not have agreed with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if he had discussed his move to declare a State of Emergency in Rivers State. Wike noted that he is not in conflict with the suspended Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara He stressed his opposition on the State of Emergency rule, stating that only the President knows the right time to lift it. While speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, Wike remarked that Fubara has permitted himself to be manipulated by his adversaries to oppose him. The FCT Minister said: “ I made it clear that this impunity will not stand, so what is happening in PDP is what I call undertakers because I see no reason why you will put yourself under that kind of crisis. “I don’t have any crisis with him (Fubara). I’m not the President who declared a State of Emergency; if Mr President had called me, I wouldn’t have agreed to the State of Emergenc...

Woman Burned to Death, Accused of Kidnapping 7yrs Old Boy in Delta

By Tessy ogbemi An angry mob set ablaze a woman accused in a failed child kidnapping attempt in Agbarho community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. The incident happened on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. An eyewitness disclosed at the scene of the incident at Ekwvere Road claimed that the woman hid the seven year old boy she allegedly abducted in a sack, adding that she was even carrying a Bible on one hand. Community sources said some residents in the area accosted the lady when they observed the way she was dragging the sack, to know what she had in it. "She was unstable when they asked her to disclose what she was carrying in the sack. When the bag was forced open, they found a seven year old child in it. They shouted and it attracted a large crowd,” a source said. It was gathered that the angry mob immediately brought a used tyre to the scene, which they forced down her neck after beating her to a pulp. “The lady and the tyre we...

FocalPoint Reports

Search This Blog