Boko Haram’s brother Pantami again named ‘most outstanding’ minister
Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, with a past filled with murderous terror plots and support for terrorist groups like Boko Haram, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda, has again been adjudged the “most outstanding minister in Nigeria.”
The ministry he superintends disclosed this on its verified Facebook page.
In the Facebook announcement, the ministry said, “The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has been identified as the MOST OUTSTANDING MINISTER (sic) in an independent online poll conducted by Elite Exclusive Magazine.”
It added, “The Honourable Minister, Dr Pantami, was presented with the Certificate of Nomination (sic) in his office today, while the award will be presented on a later date.”
This is Mr Pantami’s second “most outstanding minister” award in just a few days. Earlier this month, the ministry had announced that a media outlet, People and Power Magazine, honoured him with the “most outstanding minister of the year’ award.
Mr Pantami’s media allies have also been on an image laundering blitz to cast him as a moderate preacher widely celebrated for his longstanding contempt for Boko Haram. Mr Pantami also joined his supporters to amplify a threat issued against him by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, evoking it to dismiss insinuations of his sympathy towards terrorists as counter-intuitive.
But he once condemned Nigerian Army’s incursion into Boko Haram strongholds, describing the insurgents as “our Muslim” brothers who did not deserve to be killed like pigs.
“See what our fellow Muslim brothers’ blood has turned to? Even pig blood has more value than that of a fellow Muslim brother,” Mr Pantami lamented in a sermon issued a few years ago when former President Goodluck Jonathan ramped up military operations against the rampaging terror sect.
Peoples Gazette had obtained the audio of his statement through an anonymous contact last April. The minister’s words contradicted his recent claims that he had long maintained a hardline posture against Boko Haram.
“Even if the Boko Haram fighters commit a crime, but can we justify the way and manner they are being killed? Just look at how they are killing people as if they are shooting pigs even though they commit a crime,” Mr Pantami said.
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