President Goodluck Jonathan has denied allegation that he is marginalising muslims in his policies rather the president reiterated on Wednesday his commitment to be fair and just to all Nigerian irrespective of religious and ethnic affiliation.
The president said this in Abuja when he met in closed-door with a delegation of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA.
The delegation was led by its leader, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Secretary General of the council, Ishaq Oloyede.
Mr. Oloyede, a professor, who spoke to State House correspondents after the meeting, said the president had told them that the administration did not “deliberately marginalised” the Muslims as reported in the media.
There were media reports alleging lopsidedness on the composition of delegation to the on-going National Conference.
Mr. Oloyede said: “What we came to discuss with the president is to consult with Mr. President and we are happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure us that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalised.
“He has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace.
“The president said that if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely deliberate.
“We want to believe what Mr. President told us (is) from his mind; but we also want to believe that it is proper to protest.
“It is also proper to assume that a leader will always be just even if there are mistakes thereafter.
“We just felt that we must convey the feelings of the Muslims in Nigeria to Mr. President and he has given us his words to re-assure the Muslims community that he is a genuine and committed Christian who will not be unjust to others.”
