Alleged Terrorism: Our Hands Tied On Pantami, Says Senate
The Senate has declared that nobody, group or organisation has approached the upper chamber of the National Assembly with any concrete evidence that could warrant the sacking of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
The Minister has been in the news since the audio clips of his alleged support for terrorism in the past surfaced on social media recently.
Many concerned Nigerians and religious organisations have demanded his immediate resignation from the cabinet of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
Some Nigerians have also blamed the Senate for not doing a thorough screening on Pantami before his appointment was confirmed by the red chamber.
But speaking with Sunday PUNCH in Abuja on Saturday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, said the upper chamber should not be blamed for clearing Pantami for appointment.
He said apart from the fact that it did not receive any petition against the embattled minister, there was no security report that indicted him as of the time of his screening.
Basiru added that no petition had been sent to the Senate, detailing specific allegations against Pantami, since the matter came to the limelight penultimate week.
He nevertheless said the current controversy around the minister does not constitute any grounds for his sacking which only Buhari had the exclusive power to do.
Basiru said, “To start with, there is nothing that disqualified him from contesting an election based on the constitution of Nigeria.
