Fiery Islamic cleric bombs Buhari again, says praying for this govt useless

The Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Juma’at Mosque, Abuja, Sheikh Muhammad Khalid, has lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari yet again, over the increasing insecurity in the country.

Sheikh Khalid who has suddenly become one of Buhari’s staunchest critics in recent times, in a sermon on Friday, accused the President of not living up to the expectations of Nigerians who voted overwhelmingly for him in 2015 and 2019.

In the video, the Sheikh compared the state of insecurity in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and that of Buhari, scoring the incumbent very low.

He added that he has stopped praying for the success of the present administration as doing so has become a waste of time since nothing seems to change.

“My religion charges me to be just and I have to. If I said things like this during the Goodluck Jonathan administration and I don’t want to say it now because I share the same religion and ethnic inclination with the president, then I am a hypocrite,” he said in the video.

Continuing, the cleric who had earlier asked Buhari to return Nigeria to how he met it, said:

“In Nigeria, we are actually playing with fire, the killings in the country are taking the shape of genocide and that is why people are dying on daily basis.

“More people are being killed in this regime than Goodluck Jonathan’s regime. This regime has been telling lies that there’s an improvement in the area of security.

“Where is the improvement when our children can not go to school in some parts of the country and some states are under the control of bandits?

“During Jonathan, it was only a few states that were under the control of Boko Haram, now, tell me, how many states are safe in the country?

“Then (during the Jonathan era), it was only a few states that were under the control of Boko Haram.

“Now, tell me, how many states are safe in the country? Even his (Buhari’s) state, Katsina is not being spared.

“Kankara Local Government Area is in his state. In Zamfara State, there are about five local governments that have become no-go areas.

“There are some places you can’t go without an escort in Borno State. Other regions are also contending with one form of insecurity or the other.

Read also: Cleric warns Buhari to return Nigeria to how he met it or risk Allah’s punishment (Video)

“If it is not bandits, then unknown gunmen are wreaking havoc. It (insecurity) is worse under him (Buhari), let us tell him the truth. If he cannot improve, let him take us back to how it was in 2015.

“Before he assumed office, bandits were not operating the way they are now. How many schools were attacked and how many schoolchildren were abducted during the last administration?

“Look at how we shouted when the Chibok girls were abducted. How many have we witnessed under Buhari and we are not telling him to bring back our schoolchildren and put an end to this scourge?

“Can you tell somebody in Kaduna, Zamfara and others that there is an improvement?

“A lawmaker in Katsina State said for the fear of being attacked, he cannot go to his constituency; and he is not the only one.

“Many of these people have no peace of mind and you call that an improvement?

“Yes, some people will disagree with me because they have two passports, they have where to run to if things completely get out of hand; they are not being sincere.

“We have stopped praying for Buhari as we have not seen any result,” he said.

By Isaac Dachen

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now