The Nigerian Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has advised the Sokoto state government to protect the integrity of the Sultan and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar the III. Shettima stated this at the ongoing North West Peace and Security Submit in Katsina State, North West Nigeria.
He noted that the Sultan is a figure not only in the state but the country as a whole.
“In all issues of this country, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, I want to use him as a point of reference to appreciate all royal fathers at this meeting.
“And to Deputy Governor Sokoto, I have a simple message for you, Yes, the Sultan is the Sultan of Sokoto, but he is much more than that; he represents an idea, he is an institution, that all of us in this country need to jealousy protect, guard, promote, preserve, and project for the growth of our country,” Mr Shettima said.
The development came after the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council, MURIC, Prof. Isiaq Akintola, raised the alarm in a statement that the Sokoto State Government is allegedly planning to depose the Sultan.
In his statement, Mr Akintola said Nigerian Muslims would reject any plan to depose the Sultan.
“MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional. It is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.
“Therefore, any governor who tampers with the stool of the Sultan will have Nigerian Muslims to reckon with because the Sultan combines the office of the Sultan of Sokoto and that of the President General of the NSCIA,” Mr Akintola noted
