MURIC condemns attack on Tinubu over Arab -Islamic summit attendance

Stanley Ihedigbo

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) strongly condemned the allegation of violation of the Nigerian constitution made by a former All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant, Charles Udeogaranya, against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for attending the Arab-Islamic Summit in Saudi Arabia.

They described the allegations as hate speech, infantile, and Islamophobic.

In a statement signed by Executive Director, MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola stated  “We are shocked by Udeogaranya’s shortsightedness and his decision to hobnob with sentimentalities. His allegation is motivated by anti-Muslim emotions, and it can best be described as hate speech, infantile, and Islamophobic.

“We see no offence committed here if the president has attended a gathering under whatever aegis where solution to a raging war is being sought. More than fifty heads of state attended the summit, and many of them came from non-Arab and non-Islamic countries. We thought all the noise about Muslim-Christian controversies was over. Udeogaranya and his sponsors should allow sleeping dogs to lie.

“His submissions were full of flaws. For instance, he claimed that Nigeria is a secular state. We corrected this wrong impression long ago but people like Udeogaranya love to buy books entitled ‘Common Errors in National Discourse: Failures Come And Buy,” he emphasized.

The MURIC founder further said that:
“They love to prepare only for failure in examinations. Nigeria is a multi-religious state. A secular state is one where religion is not recognized but Nigeria recognizes several religions and allows them to flourish.

“Also, he allegedly said ‘most Nigerians are Christians and that Nigerians firmly support Israel in all international matters’. Only a man who just dropped from Jupiter can make such a false, reckless, baseless, and unfounded statement.

“Can he substantiate these? Can he cite at least two instances where and when Nigeria supported Israel? Udeogaranya may be suffering from desertification of terminological exactitude syndrome. He should check his facts again.

“Meanwhile nobody should take his allegations seriously. His call for impeachment should equally be ignored because it is meaningless, null, void, and of no consequence. President Tinubu did not go to a tea party in Saudi Arabia. He went to serve this country. It is not easy to embark on trips,” he stressed.

According to him, records of the president’s speech at the summit have emerged.

“Tinubu addressed the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict, highlighting Nigeria’s call for an immediate ceasefire and a peaceful resolution.

“President Tinubu advocated for reviving the two-state solution to achieve lasting peace in the region and expressed deep concern over the humanitarian conditions in Gaza and warned that ‘empty condemnations’ are not enough to end the conflict in Palestine, which, he said, ‘has persisted for far too long.

“This contribution shows that our president has a clear picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his representation of Nigeria at the summit has not been in vain. Therefore, he deserves commendation for his efforts, not criticism,” he explained.