The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Wike Wike, has denied ordering the demolition of the National Mosque in Abuja, and pledged his support for the maintenance of the national monument.
The minister made this known on Thursday when he received members of the Abuja National Mosque Management Committee led by its Chairman, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, at his office.
He said he was misquoted by some politicians who were trying to use religion as a weapon against him and that he had high regards for the Sultan of Sokoto, who is the president of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
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The minister mentioned that he was aware that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had launched an appeal fund for the renovation of the National Mosque and that his administration would not shirk its responsibility of supporting the project.
He said, “No government will not support the management of the national monument. We have a role to ensure that worship centres are well taken care of.”
He also said that he was not targeting any religious group or ethnicity in his policies, but was working for the good of all FCT residents and Nigerians at large.
Wike urged religious leaders to preach unity and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians, and assured them that the FCTA would also support the maintenance of the National Ecumenical Centre, which is another national monument.
The Etsu Nupe thanked the minister for his hospitality and solicited his support for the completion of the maintenance project of the mosque, which he said had been stalled for some time.
He also appealed to the minister to grant the committee more time to develop plots of land allocated to it by the FCTA.