Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has dismissed claims in some quarters that the All Progressives Congress is an Islamic party. Describing those spreading the rumour
that the APC is an Islamic party as
mischief makers, Amaechi insisted that
the party had no intention to Islamise
Nigeria should it win the 2015
presidential election. The governor, who spoke on Wednesday
during an interactive session with
students at the Ignatius Ajuru University
of Education in Port Harcourt, also
described the APC as a party for
progressives. He stated that the APC presidential
aspirant was not behind the rumour that
the party planned to islamise the
country, adding that the APC means well
for Nigerians and the development of
the nation. Amaechi urged Nigerians not to be
worried by claims from APC detractors,
maintaining that since Buhari never
thought of islamising Nigeria when he
was a military Head of State, he would
not embark on such exercise as a democratically elected president. He said, “APC is not an Islamic party. This
is so because when General Muhammad
Buhari (rtd) was Nigeria’s Head of State
as a young man, he did not Islamize
Nigeria, and to do that, he needs the
endorsement of the National Assembly to debate over the issue. Buhari cannot
Islamize Nigeria. Don’t be perturbed by
what our detractors are saying. “I am an ardent Catholic Christian and I
converse with God a lot. It is not true
that APC will Islamize Nigeria. The
National Chairman of APC, Mr. John
Oyegun is a Christian. Bola Tinubu’s wife
is also a Christian, Buhari’s cook is a Christian from Igboland, his driver is also
a Christian. As a father to all of those
Christians, Buhari gives Sunday as a free
day to his domestic staff to go to church
and worship God. So, no one can believe
what our detractors are saying about Buhari and APC.” He, however, expressed dissatisfaction
over the stagnated political economy of
the state, alleging that the Presidency
and his government’s detractors were
responsible for the development. “The political economy of Rivers State
has been stagnated by the Presidency
and our detractors. They are all thieves
who don’t mean well for our state. They
caused mayhem in the last
administration. We assumed office and chased them away. Now, as my tenure
draws close to an end, I can see, they
have brought them back. “You and I have a responsibility to stop
them from repeating what they did
before. We will not allow them again to
steal our funds. Imagine the missing $20
billion that was stolen. We expect that
our President would have sacked all those involved in the saga. But, he only
threatened to sack the former CBN
Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who
was only doing his legitimate duty at
that time. Nigerians must have a
rethink,” Amaechi said. On the forthcoming general elections, the
governor pointed out that the plan by
the PDP to usher in another Ikwerre
governor in 2015 was unreasonable, not
feasible and would fail.

Ameachi need to read this

2001-08-27 21:32 Lagos - A former military ruler of Nigeria,
Muhammadu Buhari, has called for the
introduction of 'total' Islamic law across
the country, reports said on Monday. Buhari, who ruled Nigeria from a coup in
December 1983 to his ouster in 1985, told
a seminar in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, at
the weekend that the strict Islamic law
code known as the Sharia should be
introduced in full across Nigeria. "I will continue to show openly and
inside me the total commitment to the
Sharia movement that is sweeping all
over Nigeria," Buhari said, quoted in
press reports. "God willing, we will not stop the
agitation for the total implementation of
the Sharia in the country," Buhari said. Northern Nigeria is mainly Muslim but
southern Nigeria is mainly Christian and
has led criticism of the introduction of
Islamic law in a dozen northern states in
the past 18 months. Africa's most populous country has been
shaken repeatedly in the past by
religious unrest. In February 2000
between 2 000 and 3 000 people were
killed by Christian-Muslim riots in Kaduna
over the introduction of Sharia. Call for Sharia across the country Buhari's comments were interpreted by
the southern-based papers as a call for
the imposition of Sharia all across the
country, even in the mainly Christian
south. "Buhari calls for Sharia in all states," was
the headline of the respected newspaper
The Guardian. Buhari's comments were defended by
supporters as simply a call for the full
implementation of Sharia in areas where
Muslims predominated. But the comments are the second by
Buhari that have courted controversy
after he called earlier this year for
Muslims to vote at the next presidential
elections only for someone who would
defend their faith. This was criticised by the press as a call
for voting along religious lines, as well as
an attack on the current president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a Christian. Buhari made the latest comments at a
seminar organised by the Supreme
Council for Sharia in Nigeria, a newly set
up body attended by northern state
governments and Islamic scholars. "It is a legal responsibility which God has
given us, within the context of one
Nigeria, to continue to uphold the
practice of Sharia wholeheartedly ... and
to educate non-Muslims that they have
nothing to fear," he said. "What remains for Muslims in Nigeria is
for them to redouble their efforts,
educate Muslims on the need to promote
the full implementation of Sharia law,"
he went on. - AFP

A Coupist will never rule Nigeria.