War of words between a popular Islamic cleric in Bauchi, Imam Idris Abdulaziz and Commissioner for Local Governments & Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Nuhu Zaki was far from over, as the commissioner petitioned the police over alleged ‘defamatory statements’ made against him by the cleric.
Reports say there have been exchanges of words in the past few weeks between the Bauchi State Commissioner of Local Governments & Chieftaincy Affairs and the popular Islamic cleric over alleged defamatory comment against the Commissioner and his principal, Governor Bala Mohammed.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Bauchi, Zaki threatened legal action against the Islamic scholar, saying he would pursue the case to a logical conclusion.
“Sequel to our presentation this afternoon of the Complaint by Honourable Abdurrazak Nuhu Zaki against Imam Idris Abdul’aziz Dutsin -Tanshi to the Police High Command and other relevant authorities in Bauchi State.
“Discerning observers especially in Bauchi State may recall that on the eve of the just concluded Ramadan fasting for the year 2021/1442 A.H. precisely on Friday 2 April 2021, the said Imam Idris Abdulaziz or Malam Idris as he is commonly called dedicated the
better part of his sermon to unleashing yet another diatribe on the person, character and standing of Honourable Abdurrazak Nubu Zaki as well as the government of Bauchi State.
“In fact, the highlight of Malam Idris diatribe was very weighty, sensitive but baseless criminal allegations to the effect that he is being subjected to a repeated threat to his life by our client at the behest of His Excellency the Governor of Bauchi State,” the statement read in part.
The Commissioner alleged that Abdul’aziz’s unpalatable statements were as a result of their political differences.
The commissioner said he had waited for an apology from the cleric, but it never came.
“In the spirit of the holy season of Ramadan fasting which was around the corner at that material time, our client heeded the wise counsel of our elders among who are prominent Islamic scholars to stay action on this quite serious, defamatory and damming
allegations at least for the period of the fasting.
“Based on this development, our client has decided to forward the matter to security agencies for investigation and possible prosecution. We reiterate our client’s commitment to doing everything possible under the laws of the land to pursue the case to its logical conclusion,” he added.
Responding, Sheikh Idris Abdulaziz alleged that the governor and his commissioner for local government and Chieftaincy Affairs threatened his life, adding that he has evidence.
Imam Abdulaziz said, “Yes, it is true that I disclosed in my sermon the plan by Bauchi state governor and his Commissioner Nuhu Zaki perfected to eliminate me. I have the audio messages and a written article they published as well as other evidence and exhibit about the plan at my disposal.
“In the series of audio messages which Nuhu Zaki released about me there was a part where he said they will destroy me, in another part, he said he will explode me and there is another part where he vowed to ensure that my mouth gushes blood.
“When you take the word destroy, you can destroy a person with either a bomb, a gun or with a vehicle. You can equally explode with an explosive or firearm. When you talk of gushing blood, it also connotes killing because there are animals when that you kill them, blood gushes from their mouth like dog and cat.”
Imam Abdulaziz further disclosed that he has other evidences of the threats which he said will not disclosed to the public except to security agents or court of law.
“One of the reason why I am accussing Govenor Bala Mohammed is because Nuhu Zaki who is a Commissioner and cabinet member makes his series of public outburst and threats, but the state government did not come out and dissociate itself from the utterances. Silence is acceptable because the commissioner’s remarks were boldly defending the government.
“Up till now neither the govenor or government has come out to say that the utterances are views of Nuhu Zaki and his position. The silence of the government reaffirm our belief that Nuhu Zaki cannot come out and issue threatening words especially, those choice of words without the backing of his principal, Governor Mohammed,” he noted.
Responding on the petition, the Imam said, “They have the right to to ask the police to investigate the matter and whenever I am invited by the security operatives, I will honor the invitation and defend myself.
“The issue is nothing but the role we played in bringing this administration to power. Because we needed to address bad governance in Bauchi state, we rejected the immediate past government and voted Bala Mohammed into power.
“When he came on board we did not see the change we yearned for and in order to save our integrity in the people we urged to vote him to power, we are coming out public to point the problems for them to rectify. Instead of them to listen and correct the anormalies in good faith, they termed our observation evil with their machinations.
“I come out during my sermon and digest the successes and problems with a view to draw their attention to address the problems because they have enough time to correct them but unfortunately they turned it upside down and lunch their threat to intimidate me, forgetting that we used the same platform to educate the people to use their franchise and change bad administration in Bauchi,” the Imam added.
