The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, has admitted making controversial comments, which have now made him a subject of public scrutiny, out of immaturity.
However, he said he has now renounced the controversial comments in which he expressed support for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Pantami noted that he is now more mature and knows better.
According to Daily Trust, the Islamic cleric stated this on Saturday during his daily Ramadan lecture at Annor Mosque in Abuja.
“For 15 years, I have moved round the country while educating people about the dangers of terrorism. I have traveled to Katsina, Gombe, Borno, Kano states and Difa in Niger Republic to preach against terrorism.
“I have engaged those with Boko Haram ideologies in different places. I have been writing pamphlets in Hausa, English and Arabic. I have managed to bring back several young persons who have derailed from the right path.
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“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.
“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,” the paper quoted Pantami as saying.
The minister has been in the public eye since last week for allegedly being sympathetic towards terrorists and holding extremist views.
An online medium, Peoples Gazette had reported how Pantami, a notable Islamic cleric in the 2000s, said he was happy at the killing of unbelievers.
“We are all happy whenever unbelievers are being killed.
“But the Sharia does not allow us to kill them without a reason.
“Our zeal (hamasa) should not take precedence over our obedience to the sacred law,” Pantami said in one of three audio recordings transcribed by an Italian scholar, Professor Andrea Brigaglia, which the online medium used for the story.
Pantami was said to be responding to audience questions about his views on Osama Bin Laden during a lecture about the Taliban.
“I still consider him as a better Muslim than myself,” Pantami was quoted to have said of Bin Laden, whose Al-Qaeda terror group bombed the World Trade Centre in America in 2001.
Many have since taken to social media to demand the minister’s sack.