Controversial Islamic cleric Idris Abdul’aziz, the chief imam of Dusten-Tanshi Jumma’ah Mosque Bauchi, has denied threatening the life of the president’s wife, Oluremi Tinubu.
He cleared the air at his first public appearance after his return from self-imposed exile.
Speaking while closing this year’s Ramadan commentary of the Holy Qur’an in Bauchi yesterday, he said: “I have no business with her whatsoever and I don’t even know her correct name. I have never commented on her husband, the president, let alone her. I don’t have anything to do with the wife of the president. It was a smearing campaign orchestrated from Bauchi to cause disaffection between me and the wife of the president. Two groups are responsible for this.”
Abdul’aziz described the allegations as a smear campaign aimed at tarnishing his reputation.
“I challenge those behind this to bring forward authentic video or audio evidence where I was quoted issuing a threat to the wife of the president,” he added.
Newspot recalls that a viral video surfaced in February where the Islamic cleric allegedly declared that Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, deserved to die for her Christian faith.
He was also alleged to have described the Muslim-Muslim ticket that brought President Bola Tinubu to power as a scam.
However, the First Lady, undeterred by the threat, said that after reaching 64 years of age, she shouldn’t be afraid of death.
She stated this during her visit to Bauchi to commission some projects in the state around March.
Addressing the incident during the first lady’s visit, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed expressed his dismay, describing the threat as unacceptable.
He apologised to Mrs Tinubu while assuring her of her safety in the state and pledged to take appropriate action against the cleric responsible for the threat.
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