A Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi has made it clear that he does not take side with any politician or political party in Nigeria.
He stated this during the closing of Ramadan lecture for 2018, at Shaikh Sanusi Khalil Mosque at Rigachikun, Kaduna on Thursday.
On Buhari’s government, Gumi said: “Buhari is full of mistakes. Full of mistakes! He is a human being like anybody. And I swear to God that there are many people here in the North that can perform better than him.”
The cleric was reacting to claims that he was critical of the All Progressives Congress (APC), because he has friends in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The rumour emerged because of a picture of Gumi with two PDP leaders, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State governor, Ramalan Yero, which he claimed was taken at a public event long ago.
“There was a picture that was snapped at a mosque in Rigachikun. When I was invited to attend a wedding fatiha, on arrival I met him (Mr Yero) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, at the mosque.
“Then he (Atiku) was still in APC as a member and contested against President Buhari at the primaries, while Yero was then in PDP as a governor in the state.
“I was asked to sit in their middle so I did. Now the picture is in circulation that I am a PDP member, that PDP paid me to work for them,” he said.
Gumi recalled also criticising the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan and asking the president to resign or be impeached.
“Nigeria’s newspaper carried a headline in 2012, when I said Jonathan has failed Nigerians and should resign. So I also find it a duty upon me to tell this government the truth, that it is full of mistakes, or else I become a hypocrite.
“Why I blamed Jonathan was because of blood in his hands because Boko Haram were putting bombs everywhere and the government was not doing enough.
“Anybody killed under your regime, you are responsible for that blood. If you have done your best, I can say yes, Allah can forgive you. But if you are relaxed, no; Allah will not forgive you. So it is the same thing now.
“The bloodshed now is more than during Jonathan’s regime. So now you judge yourselves to be fair. Our religion is a religion of fairness.
“Now more blood is shed from negligence, from sleeping, from laziness, from I-dont-care.
“If I am true to myself, as I called for the resignation of Jonathan, I should call for the resignation of President Buhari, and with immediate effect! And government paper should carry it also, if there is truth,” he stressed.
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