Isa Pantami
By Our Reporter
Following deluge of inquiries received, the United States Embassy in Nigeria has said questions over the placement of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami on U.S watchlist has been directed to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI.
Nigerians had sent a deluge of requests to the Embassy of the United States of America in Abuja, trying to get more information and clarification on the alleged links of the Minister Pantami, to Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations around the world and his placement on the U.S watchlist.
Pantami denied the allegation and threatened to initiate legal action against those who reported the alleged links.
However, at the time of writing this report, the US Embassy in its reaction to the alleged report said, “Thank you for your inquiry, however, we defer all press inquiries on Minister Pantami to the FBI at [email protected].”
According to allegations making the rounds, the minister, was said to be a former student of Salafist ideologies, trained in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East with other top Islamic jihadists.
It was further alleged before his appointment as a minister, Pantami was a known Islamic preacher and held what was termed ‘dangerous views’ against the American government over its stance on Al-Qaeda.
The minister was said to have been “a very close confidant of the slain Mohammed Yusuf, the founder and spiritual leader of Boko Haram with whom he allegedly shared jihadist doctrines.
The minister has denied the allegation and threatened legal action against the purveyors of the news item. In a tweet, he also claimed that he has been preaching against the Boko Haram for fifteen years.
“My lectures against the doctrines and all other evil people have been available for over 15 years, including debates that endangered my life against many criminals in Nigeria. If you can’t understand Hausa, get an objective Hausa speaker to translate for you objectively.” Pantami said
He admonished Nigerians to link their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) with their valid National Identity Numbers before May 6, 2021, warning that the federal government was set to expose criminal elements through the NIN-SIM data linkage.
“On the issue of NIN-SIM verification to fight insecurity, there is no going back. Our priority as government based on the provision of our constitution 1999 (as amended) Section 14(2)b is security, not just economy. For sure, no going back at all, ” he added.
