The controversy surrounding the alleged link of the minister of communications and digital economy, Ibrahim Isa Pantami to Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations around the world may have opened a new vista.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reacted to the alleged placement of the minister on a terror watch list.
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The FBI, in its response to the request sent to it by Leadership newspaper, said: “Consistent with our standard posture, we can neither confirm nor deny whether an individual is on the watch list.”
Already, the original authors of the report have retracted it and apologised to the minister.
Pantami says his lawyers are already heading to court over the issue.
In a short statement seen by sighted by PlatinumPost on Monday, April 13, and published on its Twitter page, the Independent Newspapers Nigeria apologised to Pantami.
Part of the statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to the story with the above title, published in the Sunday Independent newspaper of April 11, 2021.
“We have since realized that the information contained in the story has not been verified to be true. The minister mentioned in the story, Alhaji Isa Ali Ibrahim, also known as Sheikh Pantami, is not known to be on American Terror Watch List, nor is he linked to terror organisations.
“We regret and sincerely apologise for the embarrassment our story has caused the honourable minister whom we hold in high regard.”
Pantami had earlier reacted to the report, saying the publishers defamed his character and must meet his lawyers in court.
The minister explained that his teachings which have been on for more than a decade were against evil persons and criminals in Nigeria, adding that his life at a time was threatened following his debates on the subject of anti-terrorism.
