An Islamic human rights organization, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has described the former Interior Minister and two-term governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, as a pain in the neck and an outcast in the South-West Ummah.

This is even as the group explained how other Muslims, especially from the North, thwarted his treacherous move against President Ahmed Bola Tinubu ahead of the presidential election that brought in the current Nigerian president.

The Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a press release signed on Saturday, further noted that the former minister allegedly apologized two days ago but was later quoted as denying the apology, saying which of the report does the former minister want them to believe.

He said, “The former Minister of Internal Affairs and two-term governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, was widely quoted two days ago as apologizing for his misdeeds in the state.

“He allegedly said, ‘I am saying it today and I am begging for forgiveness. After this, we are not going to beg anybody again. We didn’t offend anyone and we don’t believe anyone offended us but they may believe we offended them, that’s why we are apologizing to them.

“But another media house later quoted him as denying the apology. The report said, ‘According to him, the reports in some sections of the media that he blamed the devil and seeking forgiveness is untrue and misleading.

“So, which of the reports are we expected to believe? How can he apologize and claim that he did not apologize afterward? Aregbesola comes across as a recalcitrant confusion and an unrepentant anarchist. He is an unmitigated disaster.

“For the records, Aregbesola will go down in history as the Muslim politician who did so much for the Muslim community when he was in office but went back out of office to undo all the good things he had done. The Muslims will not forget how he liberated them from persecution over the use of hijab and how he gave them the hijrah holiday.

“But they will never forgive him for truncating a Muslim administration and handing it over to a Christian on a platter of gold. Rauf Aregbesola is on his own as far as South-West Muslims are concerned and only he can tell Nigerians why he excommunicated himself from the Ummah.

“We do not doubt that as of today, no responsible Islamic organization in the sub-region will hobnob with Aregbesola. Neither will any conscious and committed Muslim individual associate with him,” he added. (Saturday Sun)

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