Elder statesman and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Frank Kokori, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State to call JNI to order, urging them to stop the secretary-general of JNI, Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, PhD, from inciting Muslims against Bishop Kukah to avert a religious war.
Kokori, made the call in a chat with Tribune Online late Tuesday night. He warned that failure of the President and Sokoto State Governor, Tambuwal, to intervene in the ongoing face-off, could lead to a gradual descent of the country into another religious war.
Kokori described, as treacherous, the deliberate misinterpretation and misrepresentation of Bishop Kukah’s Christmas homily by the JNI’s scribe.
He said having read the message of the Sokoto Bishop, he could not find any portion where the cleric disparaged Islam or Muslims, urging Buhari and Tambuwal to rein on Dr Aliyu not to cause a religious war in the country.
“Buhari and Tambuwal should call Dr Aliyu to order as he’s trying to cause a religious war in the country which is very dangerous.
“There was no portion where Bishop Kukah abused Islam or Muslims in his Christmas homily. Aliyu is an Islamic fundamentalist and should be treated as such.
“Aliyu should not drag Nigeria into his parochial ideology and if he’s worth his PhD degree, he should know that Bishop Kukah never attacked Islam or Muslims.
“Buhari and Tambuwal should rein on Aliyu not to create a religious war in the country. We’ve passed that stage. Religious war will bring the country to a zero level.
“It’s treacherous for JNI to misinterpret Bishop Kuku’s obvious message. There’s nothing anti-Islam or anti-Muslim in what Kukah said. Aliyu should desist from religious bigotry,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Aviation Minister and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani Kayode, has offered to pay N1 million to anyone with a video evidence showing Kukah denigrating Islam or calling for violence against Muslims in his Christmas sermon last December.
Kayode who said Kukah did absolutely nothing worth apologizing for, said "He (Kukah) did not attack or insult Islam and he has absolutely nothing to apologise about. He has always sought for religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims."
"Those that demand that he "must apologise" or "leave Sokoto" must mind their utterances and keep the peace," he added.