The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has condemned the campaign of calumny launched by the Christian Association of Nigeria.
The condemnation was issued in a statement signed by its Director of Administration, Prof. Salisu Shehu and Deputy Secretary General, Haruna Zuberu, on Monday March 29, 2021.
“The attention of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has been drawn to the insinuations and vituperations that trailed the shortlisting of 20 Justices-designate by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC),” the statement reads.
The council stated that it was compelled to join issues with CAN in the interest of Islam and Muslims in the country.
It said CAN had proved, times without number, “its morbid hatred for Islam and Muslims, its remarkable capacity for destructive mischief anytime a Muslim is at the helm of affairs”.
The Council, which recently exposed the marginalisation of Muslims in the successive Boards of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), reiterated its commitment to fighting the falsehoods of CAN and its propensity for character assassination of people on the basis of their religious identity to stand.
NSCIA lamented deliberate distortion of the issues surrounding the shortlisted 20 Justices-designate.
According to the statement, the said Justices of the Court of Appeal (JCAs) are 70 but the North with 19 States has 34 while the South with 17 States has 36.
“The South thus has more JCAs than the North. Meanwhile, out of the 36 JCAs from the South West (where Muslims are a majority), South East and South South (in both of which Muslims have considerable indigenous populations), all the JCAs are Christians except for Justice Habeeb Adewale Abiru of Lagos state and Justice Mistura Bolaji-Yusuf of Oyo State,” the statement says.
It adds that in the three geo-political zones of the North where Muslims are predominant, there are 34 JCAs out of which 15 are Christians.
In other words, the North East has 4 Muslim JCAs and 7 Christians, the North Central has 6 Muslim JCAs and 7 Christians while the North West has 9 Muslim JCAs and 1 Christian JCA. Of the 36 from the South, only 2 are Muslims.
The names and details of the Justices are in the images below.
“If CAN has its way, it would annihilate Muslims from Nigeria but one billion CANs of calumny unleashed against us cannot
extinguish the light of Islam here and elsewhere, even if they try it!” NSCIA says in the statement.
The council stated that CAN used same strategy to cause brouhaha over hijab in Kwara State and elsewhere.
