Bishop Matthew H. Kukah, of Sokoto Catholic Diocese
Due to some comments made by Matthew Hassan Kukah, bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called for his arrest and prosecution.
Kukah had last Friday accused President Muhammadu Buhari of nepotism, adding that there could have been a coup if a non-northern president did a fraction of what Buhari has done.
But in a statement on Monday, Yerima Shettima, AYCF national president, said Kukah’s comments were inciting and a “treasonable felony against the Nigerian state”.
Shettima said the bishop was using “nepotism as a weapon of calumny against the government and people of Nigeria,” adding that it was an attempt to “set the south against the north in order to destabilise our country and further complicate matters”.
Said Shettima: “Such a reckless statement by Kukah betrays something much more sinister against both the North and the nation as a whole because Nigeria is at a stage that it requires responsible advice for attaining peace and stability, not deliberate attempt to mischievously compound our problems.
“If Kukah wants to play politics, he should not do so in the pulpit and he should keep the bishop’s office aside and choose any Nigerian political party platform to contest for the president in 2023 and stop all the pretences”.
The AYCF president said Kukah should be reminded of the struggle to rid the country of military dictatorship.
