The Bauchi State Sharia Commission has invited a controversial Islamic cleric, Dahiru Abubakar, over stories that he was eliminated as an imam for allegedly campaigning for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
The cleric appeared earlier than the fee on Wednesday following media stories of his alleged removal.
Recall that the Imam’s alleged removal over partisanship generated public reactions weeks in the past, with some residents questioning whether or not Abubakar was truly an Imam on the mosque in Madina Quarters, Bauchi, whereas others accused him of exaggerating the incident to realize political consideration.
Amid the controversy, the fee invited him to clarify his feedback and obtain steering on the necessity to train warning when mixing spiritual duties with political actions.
The assembly was led by the Commander of Hisbah below the fee, Malam Muhammad Muhammad Bununu, who gave the cleric a chance to handle the stories and make clear what transpired.
Speaking through the assembly, Abubakar accused some media organisations of misrepresenting his earlier feedback, insisting that the mosque was a small neighbourhood prayer centre and never a central mosque the place Friday congregational prayers had been held.
He stated the mosque had solely two prayer rows and that his feedback had been wrongly introduced in a way that advised he had been faraway from a significant Friday mosque.
“I made the statement, but I never expected it to generate this kind of controversy. The mosque being discussed is not more than two prayer rows; it is a small mosque. It is not a Friday mosque, but some people across the world understood it to be a large Friday mosque,” he stated.
The cleric additional accused some folks of twisting his remarks and giving them interpretations that weren’t a part of his authentic assertion.
He apologised to those that felt offended by the controversy, significantly those that understood his feedback to imply that he had been faraway from a Juma’at mosque.
“In the name of Allah, I apologise to everyone who understood it to mean that it was a Juma’at mosque. That was not what I meant. I was referring to a small mosque,” he stated.
Abubakar additionally appealed to journalists and members of the general public to keep away from attributing statements to him that he didn’t make, urging them to report his feedback precisely.
“Stop spreading things I never said,” he warned.
He disclosed that the mosque had solely seven common worshippers, confirming that they had been answerable for eradicating him as the imam. He added that the disagreement had since been resolved.
Despite the controversy, the cleric reaffirmed his assist for Tinubu and his dedication to marketing campaign for the President’s re-election in 2027.
He additionally thanked the Sharia Commission for inviting him and providing recommendation, whereas expressing remorse over the misunderstanding surrounding the dimensions and standing of the mosque.
