House of Reps minority leader calls for Pantami resignation; FG Keeps Mum on Calls for His Removal

House of Representatives member Ndudi Elumelu on Wednesday joined calls for the removal or resignation of Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami over pro-terrorist comments he made in the past.

Elumelu, said the minister’s statement was a breach of privilege and should not be allowed.

He noted that the minister occupies a very sensitive position and the comments should not be overlooked.

“For the past few days, I have been inundated with calls from my constituents that if it is right for a serving minister (who) owned-up and said that he did whatever he did that time because he was a youth,” Elumelu said.

“I feel it will be out of place for me to sit here and not see this chamber speak about it and totally call for his resignation or suspension.”

However, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila said the lawmaker’s point was noted but was improperly presented.

Gbajabiamila said Elumelu’s complaint “came under the wrong order (because) you have not stated how your privilege have been breached.”

“But your point of order is well noted. But you know that under privilege we don’t debate such issues. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the Federal Executive Council, FEC, did not discuss the issue of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, whose alleged previous link with Al-Qaeda and Taliban, had led to calls for his resignation.

Mohammed, who briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, did not respond to questions about whether the government was comfortable with the calls for Pantami’s sack or resignation.

“I’m not going to go into the issue of whether the government is comfortable or not. I will answer your question directly. It was not discussed at the council meeting,” Mohammed said.

The minister it would be recalled had initially denied making pro-terrorist comments after media reports of his previous teaching were published but later acknowledged his past views.

Pantami reportedly made the incendiary comments while answering questions on the late Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, who masterminded the destruction of the World Trade Centre. At least 3000 people died when planes crashed into the twin towers of WTC on September 11, 2001.

“Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity,” Daily Trust quoted Pantami as saying during his daily Ramadan lecture at Annor Mosque in Abuja.

“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”