Barely three days after President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the National Conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital; the Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) on Wednesday complained what it termed as unfair representation of Muslims in the delegates list, expressing doubt that such marginalisation will affect the credibility of the outcome of the conference.
At a press conference in Kaduna, JNI Secretary General, Dr Khalid Abubakar said despite the fact that Muslims constitute over 60 percent of the country’s population, they were allocated only six slots out of the 20-man federal government delegates list to the conference, while similar treatment was also meted to Muslims in the appointment of service chiefs and other top federal appointments in the country.
The Islamic body also condemned the tragedy that engulfed the recent Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise where about 19 applicants lost their lives, saying the incident has presented the level of poverty and unemployment despite the abundant resources in the country.
But in a sharp reaction, a former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna State, Dr Samuel Kujiyat described the allegation of marginalisation of Muslims as totally untrue and a deliberate plot by the body to discredit the ongoing national conference.
He challenged JNI to come up with facts that Muslims are actually greater in number than Christians, saying the same Islamic body had rejected the inclusion of religious variations during the last National Population Census in 2006 in order to ascertain which religious group has the highest population.
He also absolved President Jonathan of favouring the Christians than Muslims in federal appointments.
