FG has a grand ploy to Islamise Nigeria using the Sukuk bond - CAN
- The Christian Association of Nigeria has warned the government against going ahead with floating the Sukuk bond
- CAN said the bond is a ploy to Islamise Nigeria through the back door as well as sell the country to the Arabian nations
- The organisation threatened to go to court if the idea by the government is not dropped
- Lai Mohammed, information minister, has denied the allegation
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned the country’s government against Islamising Nigeria through the back door with the floating of the Sukuk Islamic bond.
In a statement by the Christian body, the Sukuk bond is nothing but an avenue to Islamise the country and sell it to the Arab nations.
The statement, signed by CAN’s general secretary, Rev Musa Asake, and released in Abuja, is asking that the laws and framework behind the bond be stopped immediately.
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The organisation also threatened to go to court if the government failed to meet its demand.
CAN argued that Nigeria is a secular state with a government that should be neutral on issues involving religion.
“The Christian Association of Nigeria has been protesting against this aberration since the Osun State Government, under Governor Rafiu Aregbesola, embarked on this violation of the Constitution.
“Rather than stand in the defence of the constitution, it is disappointing to note that the Federal Government is pursuing what is an outright confirmation of an Islamisation agenda.
“The recent floating of Sukkuk Bond by the government is not only sectional but illegal and a violation of the Constitution. Every law that has been promulgated to back the Sukuk issuance and promote an Islamic banking system in Nigeria is ultra vires, illegal, null and void.
“Therefore, the manipulations and scheming to smuggle the country into a full blown Islamic state should stop; these manipulations became apparent with the smuggling of Nigeria into the Organisation of Islamic Conference in 1986 by the Ibrahim Babangida military junta,” Asake said in a report by the Punch.
CAN argued further that the International Monetary Fund had stated that the issuance of Sukuk by non-Islamic countries was a breach of the religious neutrality of the government of such states.
“The FG must dismantle all legal and institutional framework established to promote Islamic financing in Nigeria.
“We affirm that the territorial integrity of Nigeria is undermined through the issuance of Sukuk in the country. We hope that the government shall desist from its policies of unbridled religious sectionalism,” the statement said.
In its defence, Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s information minister, said: “Sukuk is not an attempt to Islamise Nigeria in any form. On the contrary, it is an attempt at financial inclusiveness.
“The difference between Sukuk Bond and other bonds is that if you invest in Sukkuk bond, you earn no interest.
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“So, the scheme appeals to many people who don’t believe that money should gather interest.
“They, however, engage in profit sharing in the sense that if the government makes a profit from the bond, they give the investor a part of it but if the government makes no profit, the investor is not entitled to anything.”
Legit.ng reported earlier that following Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave the list of states in the need of loan as he wrote to the National Assembly urging the legislative arm to consider and ensure an accelerated approval to borrow a total sum of $1.5 billion from multilateral agencies and France by 10 states of the federation.
Watch this video of what Vice President Yemi Osinbajo thinks about Nigeria's unity:
Source: Legit.ng
