Don’t let anyone blackmail you to resign- MURIC to Pantami

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged Dr. Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Planning, to defy calls for him to resign.

Pantami’s resignation has been called for due to his suspected links to terrorist groups.

Pantanmi, who characterized the demand for him to resign as politically motivated, apologized for some of his previous controversial comments.

READ ALSO: Alleged Affiliation with Al-Qaeda, Taliban: PDP asks Buhari to sack Pantami, DSS to invite minister

Those who want President Muhammadu Buhari shot, on the other hand, have continued their campaign.

Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC’s director, said in a statement that everybody has a history.

“A section of the Nigerian press reported that some people were calling for Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami’s resignation over false claims that the US had put him on its watchlist. The second charge was that the minister had already made several radical statements.

“It’s a false accusation that should be dismissed. After all, even the United States has rejected it. Dr. Pantami has had unrestricted access to the United States for a long time.

“Even Facebook, the US-based social media giant, displayed Pantami’s picture on its digital board for several hours during one of his frequent visits to that country as a show of honor and reverence.

“Forces opposed to the Federal Government’s NIN agenda, Boko Haram terrorists, pirates, criminals in general, and political IDPs are waging a smear campaign (Internally Displaced Politicians). No one who cares for Nigeria would accept such a malicious and baseless accusation.

“It is common knowledge that NIN is built to reveal the true identities of criminals such as Yahoo Yahoo boys, thieves, and kidnappers who extort money from foreigners and families of kidnapped victims through the internet and telephone.

“They live the life of Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: respectable gentlemen by day, violent criminals by night and in dark alleyways.

“Since Pantami’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Policy launched the NIN policy, they’ve been jittery.

“They are among the people who stand to gain from Pantami’s departure. The political IDPs’ goal is to ensure that no project started by the current administration is successful.

“The ramifications of Pantami’s resignation at this critical juncture are far too bleak to consider. It’s a matter of national security. Our best hope for dealing a technological blow to terrorism, insurrection, abduction, and other forms of crime in the region, the NIN system, is in danger of collapsing.

“Monitoring would be interrupted. It is preferable for us to let the man who started it complete it. If an issue occurs after we’ve switched hands in the middle of implementing it, the new boss can quickly deflect blame. Then it will be a double disaster. Allow the finisher to be the beginner. #startermustfinisher

“We, therefore, charge Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami to ignore calls for his resignation in the interest of our great country, Nigeria. Patriots must oppose any call for resignation that is not founded on honesty and fact.

“This campaign to oust the minister is in poor taste. It’s teeming with hidden agendas. Pantami must not give up his position. He must not be swayed by low-cost blackmail. In stormy waters, a captain should not abandon ship. When things get difficult, the tough get even tougher.”