The Muslims Rights Concern, MURIC’s accusation of the Sokoto State Government plot to dethrone His Eminence, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has been debunked and termed false by the Government.
The Sokoto State Government said it is baffled by such malicious and fabricated publication credited to MURIC. It stressed that the State Government wondered how a responsible body like MURIC, claiming to be protecting the rights of the Muslims would descend so low and cheaply as to join hands with deluded mischief makers and enemies of progress to fabricate such a false and unsubstantiated story.
Abubakar Bawa, Press Secretary to Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, in a statement said: “We believe that MURIC is not the type that will be dancing to the tunes of enemies and mischief makers who are trying to take away the attention of the good people of Sokoto state and Nigerians on the transformative initiatives taking place in Sokoto State over the last one year”.
“We also like to assure MURIC that the present administration just like the previous administrations in the state cherishes and respects the Sultanate Council long before MURIC was established.
“The Sultanate Council, which has a long standing historical importance is so reverred to all the people of Sokoto State, therefore we still hold the institution in very high regards and esteem”.
“This is not the first time stories such as this were fabricated to show that all is not well between the state government and the Sultanate Council, as some few months back we had a similar obnoxious story which the state government categorically condemned and denied in whole”.
“From the look of things,those nefarious detractors and distracting enemies of progress have not relented in their failed efforts to smear the cordial relationship existing between the state government and the Sultanate Council.
“MURIC should have cared to find out if there was ever any query, warning or any threatening documents served on the sultan by the state government.”
Bawa added that the allegation was just to create an unfriendly atmosphere and fear in the minds of the law-abiding and peaceful citizens of the state.
The statement further reads, “We equally like to remind MURIC that promoting Islamic affairs is the second item on the Ahmed Aliyu’s nine-point Smart Agenda,therefore Islam means so much to the present administration, coupled with the fact that Sokoto being the Seat of the Caliphate, is a 100 per cent Muslim-dominated society.”
“It is on record that no administration in the history of Sokoto State has done to Islam what the present administration has done in just one year. This we say without any fear of contradictions”.
Bawa said for any one to think that the present administration could engage in acts or actions that could jeopardize the development of Islam is not only unfair but unjustifiable.
He said to put the records straight, we would like to tell the world that the relationship between the Ahmed Aliyu-led administration and the Sultanate Council under the leadership of our most respected monarch, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has been very cordial.
Bawa also noted that this present administration always consulted with His Eminence, the Sultan on issues affecting the state, and his invaluable contributions and inputs are always respected and included in policy implementation.
Commenting on the issue of sacking and transfer of some District Heads in Sokoto State, Bawa said MURIC should know that the affected District Heads were accused of some unbecoming behaviours, such as land racketeering, aiding insecurity as well as insurbodination to the constituted authority.
He stated that to give give fair hearing a committee set up by the State Government summoned all the affected District Heads, after which it came up with a whitepaper report, advising government on what to do.
“And it was based on the report and in the public interest that the state government acted in conformity with the recommendations made by the whitepaper committee.
” It is equally important for MURIC to note that nobody is above the law, therefore,the sacked District Heads are just reaping what they saw, and that the action taken by the Sokoto State Government was indisputably in the best public interest.”
For the records, on Monday, Vice President Kashim Shettima asked the Sokoto State Government to treat the Sultan with reverence and described him as an icon and a National treasure.
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