2023: Sultan denies ‘endorsement’ of Peter Obi
Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria, has denied and called a recent article attributed to him endorsing Labour Party presidential candidate Mr Peter Obi as fraudulent.
In response to the article titled “Breaking: Sultan of Sokoto Writes,” which has been circulating on social media, the Sultan of Sokoto issued a nine-paragraph statement denying its authenticity. The statement was made available to reporters by Mr Bashir Adefaka, who is described as a member of the Sultan’s Media Team.
He said that a piece he supposedly wrote couldn’t have come from anywhere near or around him.
The Sultan supposedly said, “Hold me responsible if Peter Obi didn’t perform well, the problem of the North is from the north, not Peter Obi or an Igbo man, it will be worst and more deadly for the North if Tinubu wins, if they tell you an Igbo man is the problem of Nigeria, tell them Igbo man never rule Nigeria before and north is world poverty capital,” but this has since been debunked.
Adefaka pointed out that this was not the first time a false story had been spread with the intention of using a famous person’s or Sultan’s name for partisan gain.
” Unfortunately for these pitiable political campaigners, Sultan of Sokoto is – strictly speaking – a traditional ruler and leader of Muslims of Africa’s most populous country. As a retired Army General, his discipline, commitment and unalloyed loyalty to Nigeria is non-negotiable.
” The statement is fake because such an irresponsible write-up, credited to him, could not have emanated from anywhere near or around His Eminence , Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) ,” Adefaka said
On Wednesday and Thursday, he said, the Sultan hosted several influential people, including the outgoing and incoming GOCs of the Eighth Division of the Nigerian Army in Sokoto, Major Generals O. Bassey and Godwin Mutkut, and the Vice Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima.
” It would interest Nigerians to know that Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Peter Obi, was not one of those that paid visit to the palace, be it on Wednesday or Thursday. So, how some agents of discord whose stock-in-trade thrives on cooking falsehoods and peddling of fake news think that they can get through with this remains unknown to common sense,” he said
The spiritual leader challenged those spreading the hoax article, saying they must disclose a copy of the letter reportedly written by the Sultan or a video or audio clip in which he endorsed Peter Obi and denied APC Presidential Candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Sultan warned that if the accusers “cannot, and of a surety they cannot,” they should stop spreading “this indefensible claim and unpardonable lie” in His Eminence’s name.
” It should, however, be made clear to the good people of Nigeria that this, like many others in the past by the Peter Obi campaigners, would not stop the Sultan from continuing to play his role as a multifaceted leader and father of all and so, his doors will remain open to all aspirants across all parties and other meaningful people from across the country.
” More important to the Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar at this time and always are security, peace and unity of Nigeria, especially as the nation is fast moving into its long planned and heavily invested general elections,” Adefaka’s statement read.
Since the Royal father is not a politician, he stated, “any incoherent claims of naysayers be ignored,” and the Sultan will continue to back all efforts that will contribute to the election’s victory.
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