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Pantami once sympathised with Boko Haram, says they don’t deserve to be killed
Isa Pantami, President Muhammadu Buhari’s communications minister, previously condemned the Nigerian Army’s incursion into Boko Haram strongholds, calling the rebels “our Muslim” brothers who did not deserve to be slaughtered like pigs.
“Do you see what our Muslim brothers’ blood has become? Mr Pantami lamented in a sermon delivered a few years ago, when former President Goodluck Jonathan ramped up military operations against the raging terror sect, that “even pig blood has more meaning than that of a fellow Muslim brother.”
On Thursday night, the audio was accessed by Peoples Gazette from an unidentified source. Although the exact position of Mr Pantami’s sermon and the number of people who attended could not be determined right away, the words contradicted his recent statements that he had long held a hardline stance against Boko Haram.
Mr Pantami’s media supporters have also been working overtime to portray him as a moderate preacher who has been widely praised for his long-standing anti-Boko Haram sentiments. Mr Pantami also joined his supporters in amplifying a threat issued against him by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, citing it to dismiss insinuations of his sympathy for terrorists as illogical.
However, in the February 2020 video, Mr Shekau appeared more enraged by Mr Pantami’s betrayal in becoming a top government official after preaching Salafi doctrine for years than by the minister’s alleged criticism of Boko Haram’s deadly activities.
Mr Pantami has long been known as a revered Islamic cleric in northern Nigeria. He used much of his sermons to protest against the government’s tyranny, and Peoples Gazette released a video of him pledging never to work for the government on Thursday. The sermon was given in the mid-2000s, years before President Muhammadu Buhari named him as the head of NITDA in 2016 and then as a cabinet minister in charge of communications in 2019.
We are praying to God to answer all our prayers. It’s our right and obligation before all Muslim leaders, politicians, government appointees, academics,” Mr Pantami said in his prayers. “All of us should not fold their arms and watch helplessly how they shed our Muslim brothers’ blood and cheat them in vain.”
Mr Pantami said Boko Haram elements should have been treated with dignity as against the deadly military campaign, saying extermination of insurgents amounted to extrajudicial killing.
“Even if the Boko Haram fighters commit a crime, but can we justify the way and manner they are being killed?”
“Just look at how they are killing people as if they are shooting pigs even though they commit a crime, why the extrajudicial killing? Take them before the law for a fair trial.
“You caught someone sleeping and you killed him. If it’s not Muslims that undergo such treatments who else?” Mr Pantami said.
The minister also said the previous administration should have pampered Boko Haram insurgents in the same manner as the Niger-Delta militants. Unlike Boko Haram that has been on senseless bloodshed against Nigerians of every faith and creed, the militants were fighting for a better share of oil wealth explored and extracted from their parts of the country.
After about three years of their violent campaign, which largely involved frequent abduction of expatriate oil workers and exchange of fire with security forces, the militants acquiesced to economic solutions and relinquished their arms in a deal brokered by former President Umar Yar’Adua.
But Mr Pantami disregarded the context of both groups and instead took a parallel position on how the government should respond to them.
“The Niger Delta people did something similar to this. They massacre people, steal weapons, killed expatriates and kidnap some of them,” Mr Pantami said. “Yet, you still accept them back, open a ministry for them, gave them a minister and put them on a monthly salary pay without work.”
“The militants did more harm compared to what Boko Haram boys did,” the minister said. “But why will they do something like this? Why selective justice?”
The audio was part of a series of controversial sermons which Mr Pantami delivered at several worship centres and learning institutions across the northern parts of the country between the mid and late 2000s. The Gazette obtained the audio this week, most of which had already been transcribed and contextualised by an academic journal published online since March 2019.
Calls have now intensified for Mr Pantami to either publicly renounce his statements or step down from office, with some activists arguing that his position as a federal minister in charge of citizens’ data and the country’s telecoms infrastructure had become untenable.
As part of our series, The Gazette reached out to Mr Pantami repeatedly to learn whether or not he had renounced his controversial views but he declined all requests.
The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has been summoned to the Nigerian Po,ice Force headquarters to face criminal investigation.
In a letter dated 4th April and signed by Commissioner of Police in Charge of Operations, Olajide Rufus Ibitoye, said he was directed by the Inspector General of Police to invite the Emir for questioning for violating Durbar ban.
A copy of the letter sighted by CAPITAL POST indicated that Sanusi led a Durbar processing to the Government House to pay homage despite the ban which the Police expressed security concerns.
The urged Emir Sanusi Lamido to appear on Tuesday,b8th April, 2025.
Sanusi reportedly led a procession in car as against the usual horses in which a 20-year old in the entourage was arrested and detained.
Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio has accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Elisha Abbo of being united I coordinated attacks against him lately.
He stated this following Natasha’s claims during a rally in her Kogi Central Senatorial District that he recruited the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello to assassinate her outside Abuja.
At the rally on Tuesday 1st April, 2025 which was monitored by CAPITAL POST in Lokoja, Natasha accused the former Governor Yahaya Bello, having been contacted late in the night of March 12, 2025 to orchestrated ‘recall and assassination’ of her outside Abuja.
Natasha said she has intelligence reports that when she is killed in her Constituency, “it will look as if it’s her people that killed her.”
Though Bello was yet to issue a statement debunking the allgations or otherwise, Senate President on his part denied the allegation and described it as falsehood and inflammatory.
Reacting in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publici, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh on Friday, Akpabio accused former Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial, Elisha Abbo of toeing the similar part of blackmail, saying barely 24 hours later, on April 2, 2025, Elisha Abbo appeared on Arise Television to revive a previously withdrawn claim that Senator Akpabio “manipulated the judiciary” to secure his removal from the Senate.
The statement said: “Nigerians will recall that Mr. Abbo, in 2023, publicly retracted this same accusation and tendered an apology after acknowledging that his claims were founded on incorrect assumptions.
“His removal from office was the outcome of a constitutionally grounded judicial decision by the Court of Appeal, which independently determined that he was not duly elected to represent Adamawa North.
“In a further twist, Mr. Abbo also alleged that he was denied his entitlements by the Senate President. This, too, is categorically false. Entitlements such as salaries and allowances are processed strictly through administrative and legal procedures.
“The Senate President does not and cannot unilaterally approve or deny such requests. Any delays or rejections would have been based solely on due diligence and compliance with established protocols.
“The timing, tone, and striking similarity of these coordinated attacks point clearly to a politically motivated smear campaign. These individuals—backed by undisclosed interests—appear united in a desperate effort to undermine the credibility of the Senate and its leadership and intended to distract from their own personal and political shortcomings and failings.
“Senator Godswill Akpabio remains undeterred. As a statesman devoted to national unity, institutional integrity, and the rule of law, he will not be distracted by malicious falsehoods or inflammatory rhetoric.
“Regardless of the necessity for legal redress, formal letters of demand, seeking immediate public retractions, apologies, and compensation for reputational harm, are underway to be served on both Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Mr Elisha Abbo.
“We call on the Nigerian public in particular and the International Community to reject these baseless and provocative narratives. The Senate, under Senator Akpabio’s leadership, remains focused on its constitutional mandate: to promote legislative excellence, safeguard democratic values, and deliver meaningful progress for the Nigerian people”, the statement concluded.
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, has expressed heartfelt sympathy over the demise of Hon. Suleiman Muhammed, the Kogi East Zonal Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a condolence message to the family of the deceased and members of the APC in Kogi state, described the sudden passing of the APC Zonal chairman as a loss not only for the party in Kogi East but the entire APC family in the state.
According to the Governor “The late Hon. Suleiman Muhammed was a man of peace, humility, and one who demonstrated commitment to the service of the state and the APC as a party. He carried the aspirations of his people with dignity; his leadership was widely respected and his contributions deeply valued within and beyond the APC in Kogi East”.
“He was instrumental in strengthening party cohesion and promoting inclusive dialogue. His presence in every party engagement brought stability and thoughtful leadership to our consultations in the zone.”
Governor Ododo further noted that Hon. Suleiman’s calm temperament, sense of fairness, and ability to listen distinguished him as a unifying figure in the party.
The Governor also extends condolences to the family of the deceased, the leadership and members of the APC in the state, the people of Dekina local government area and the entire Kogi East Senatorial District.
He prayed that Almighty Allah (SWT) forgive his shortcomings and grant him Aljanatul Firdaus.
The late APC zonal chairman who served as the APC coordinator in Odu Ward 2 before becoming the zonal chairman of the party in Kogi East died at the age of 45 and has been laid to rest according to Islamic rites.
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