#TrackNigeria: An NGO, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described the allegations in a petition by the Northern Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) against President Muhammadu Buhari as frivolous and unacceptable.
The NCEF had on Thursday petitioned the European Parliament over Buhari’s attendance of the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), alleging an attempt at islamisation of Nigeria.
NCEF also alleged that the president was not doing enough to tackle the security challenges facing the country.
But MURIC in a statement on Friday by its Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, described the allegations as frivolous, unfounded, imaginary, untenable and unacceptable.
The statement said: “We have no modicum of doubt that their lies will come crashing down on them like a pack of cards when the EU Parliament investigates their allegations and NCEF cannot fool the EU Parliament.
“EU Parliament will find it interesting to know that Nigeria became a member of OIC back in 1969 when Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), a Christian, took Nigeria to the organisation in observer status.
“Gowon is not a Muslim but he needed the organisation’s support for Nigeria during the civil war (1967 – 1971).
” Spain, Portugal and France were supporting Biafra and Gowon found it mandatory to rally the support of African countries through Nigeria’s membership of OIC.
“It will therefore become clear that joining OIC has nothing to do with Islamisation but another way of pursuing Nigeria’s national interest.”
Nigeria joined for political expediency and the regularization in 1986 was merely procedural.
“Just as Gowon used the instrumentality of Nigeria’s membership of OIC to secure victory for Nigeria in the civil war, President Buhari used his physical presence at the 2019 OIC summit to return home with two juicy take-aways.
“Is the Second Niger Bridge situated in Daura? Who benefits from its completion? Is it Buhari personally, the Fulanis as a race or Islam as a creed? ”
MURIC appealed to Nigerians in general to seize the opportunity of Buhari’s credible leadership to partner with one another in building a prosperous nation. (NAN
