Nigerians suffering, Shari’ah Council tells Tinubu

THE Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has drawn the attention of President Bola Tinubu to the plights of Nigerians, declaring that people are suffering in the country.

The president of the council, which is made up of Muslim organisations across the country, Sheikh AbdurRasheed Hadiyyatullah, made the declaration while speaking with newsmen in Abuja at the council’s just-concluded national conference with the theme, ‘Matters Arising From 2023 Elections and Associated Socio-Economic Challenges’.

Hadiyyatullah submitted that things have got worse for Nigerians under the Tinubu administration in the last seven months.

He lamented the harsh economic situation in the country with the escalating cost of living and unemployment rate.

The cleric said despite the enormous support the administration receives from Nigerians, the citizens have not enjoyed any dividends of democracy seven months after the administration came onboard.

“Nigeria of today is too bad. What we were buying at N200 before is now N2,000. There is scarcity of Naira and unemployment is escalating. Nigerians are not enjoying the new government at all.

“See how Nigerians are suffering. No money. No progress. We have not enjoyed anything in the seven months of this government,” Sheikh Hadiyatullah said.

He said the Sharia’h Council, like many other Nigerian organisations and individuals, supported the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the last presidential election with a view to engendering development in Nigeria, but he expressed regret that nothing had been achieved so far “but hardship upon hardship.”

Hadiyyatullah alleged that instead of working for the people, some government officials, including ministers, had been siphoning money off the treasury.

He said:” I don’t want to get personal, but the Sharia Council helped the Muslim-Muslim ticket to be successful. We campaigned and supported this government until it came into being, but we are suffering.

“Some of the ministers are siphoning and looting the treasury. I don’t want to mention any name, but we have all seen and read it. They appointed those who would loot the treasury and Nigerians have been suffering for the past seven months, when this government came to power.

“We are not making any progress. The reason for the Muslim-Muslim ticket was to progress, triumph, and succeed, and to have good governance, but we don’t have anything.”

The cleric, therefore, advised ministers who are not ready to work for the good of the country to resign and allow honest Nigerians to take their places.

“We are sympathetic with this government, but the way forward is for some of these ministers to go home and rest and we will find other people who will be honest with themselves and the country, those who will work and not loot the country.”

Also at the event, a former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, commended Tinubu for not interfering with the recent Supreme Court judgments on governorship disputes in some states, saying that the various judgments were a testament to the character of the president.

According to him, Tinubu refused to influence the judgments because he was a democrat.

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