Imam Dahiru Abubakar of a mosque in Madina quarters of Bauchi metropolis has been removed from his position for campaigning for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election.
The imam was said to have been subtly campaigning for Tinubu’s reelection during preaching after every obligatory prayer.
He was, however, suspended after he repeated the act following the early morning prayer (Subhi) on Sunday.
“He would tell the congregation after prayer that Tinubu did not cause insecurity and he deserved to be reelected.
A committee was set up after he did the same thing last weekend and he was subsequently removed,” a source said.
Abubakar told our correspondent that he had been telling the people in his preaching that President Tinubu was not the problem because the hardship and insecurity were caused by “end times phenomenon.”
He said, “I have been preaching to the people to stop castigating President Tinubu for the insecurity and economic challenges. They prepared to vote for him and give him another mandate in 2027 to continue his mandate.
“My preaching centred on telling people to embrace fear of God and stop blaming leaders for the insecurity, particularly President Tinubu, because only God’s intervention can stop the challenges with the power of prayers, and that didn’t go down well with the committee of the mosque.
“My preaching priorities are fear of God and our day-to-day activities. I cited examples of what is happening, especially insecurity in African countries like Sudan, Chad, Mali and others facing crisis. I asked whether President Tinubu was responsible for their insecurity.”
Confirming the incident, chairman of the mosque committee, Imam Abubakar Jibrin, said, “Our major challenge with him was not only his campaign for Tinubu but the way and manner he gathered many people in front of the mosque and sometimes entered the mosque purposely to discuss politics.”
