by Isi Esene
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai to be watchful of his comments as regards the Christian faith.
CAN accused el-Rufai of trying to whip-up sentiments around religion for a selfish agenda.
The former minister had, a few days ago, ‘retweeted’ a statement by one Bukola Ogunyemi on Twitter humorously describing the desperation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s media handlers, Information Minister, Labaran Maku; Presidential Adviser on Media and Publcity, Dr. Reuben Abati and the Special Adviser to the president on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe to discredit all criticisms directed at their boss without considering its merit.
The offensive tweet reads thus: “”@zebbook: If Jesus criticises Jonathan's govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with Mary Magdalene.”….LWKMD…..”
Following the backlash received from the tweet, El-Rufai tendered an apology stating his position. He said,in part:
"Hello friends. I have been travelling and trying to catch some sleep in between the last 24 hours and missed all the furore arising from my retweet of Ogunyemi Bukola's (@zeebook) joke, Maku et al and Jesus. I must say I am taken aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable.
"I hope those in this class will see my point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment caused. And I advise everyone to read @zeebook's timeline and mine to read exactly what was tweeted, rather than the second-hand reports of certain people who always twist whatever I write or not write to achieve their morally-repugnant objectives."
The General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, who read the association's first official reaction on the alleged careless utterance to journalists, described the statement by the former minister as reckless and a reflection of deep-seated moral bankruptcy.
“We must not allow him to turn Nigeria into a cauldron of fire by his reckless, bigoted and twisted commentaries about our Lord and our faith, and we must view him for exactly what he is,” he reportedly said.
