The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has joined other Nigerians to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami after the minister admitted holding extreme religious views in the past.
Pantami had acknowledged his past views but explained that he has since renounced those radical assertions which tended to support terror and terrorism. He said holding such views in the past was due to age, immaturity, and limited knowledge, stressing that he is a changed Islamic cleric now.
But the PDP in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, asked the Department of State Service to interrogate the minister.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) charges the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately invite the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, for questioning over alleged affiliations with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” the statement partly read.
“The party also demands that President Muhammadu Buhari should immediately sack the minister, given the sensitivity of the issue at stake.”
PDP explained that its position “is predicated on the heightening concerns in the public space and in the international arena of possible compromises by the communication minister, who has access to sensitive government documents and information, in addition to data of all individuals including high profile personalities in the public and private sectors as well as the traditional and faith-based circles.”
The PDP further expressed worry about “allegations in the public suggesting that the minister compromised the NIN registration exercise by giving room for the registration of aliens and invaders from other countries as our citizens.”
