•Sultan, Tinubu and Abbas
As the debate over alleged genocide against Christians in Nigeria lingers, President Bola Tinubu has met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Sultan, who serves as head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria, is the spiritual leader of the Muslim community in the country, reports The PUNCH.
The president met with the Sultan in his office at the State House.
Also in the meeting are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The crux of the meeting is not known as of the time of filing the report.
On Tuesday, President Tinubu met with the Catholic Archbishop of the Diocese of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Although details of the meeting were not made known to the press, it underpinned the Tinubu-led government’s stance on promoting religious harmony.
The United States’ President Donald Trump had accused the Nigerian government of complicity over alleged genocidal attacks against Christians, threatening to launch a military espionage to wipe out the dreaded Islamist terrorist groups, Boko Haram and ISWAP, as well as the bandits operating in the North-West and North-Central zones.
The Trump government had also placed Nigeria in the list of Countries of Personal Concern, a designation which the Nigerian authority faulted.
On Tuesday, after an audience with President Tinubu, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had described the designation of Nigeria by the US as a country with no tolerance for religious freedom as as false and untrue.
Idris said the current government respects the constitutional rights of Nigerians to practice their faith without any hindrance.
According to him, while the Tinubu administration acknowledged that insecurity in Nigeria was an issue of concern, it was a misconception to say that the government was not making frantic efforts to address the issues.
Also, at the Federal Executive Council meeting yesterday, Tinubu vowed to intensify collaboration with global leaders to defeat terrorism.
The president, who chaired the meeting, also said that despite the insecurity and other challenges, the country was on course for economic growth.
