An Islamic cleric, Mallam Saleh Muhammad Jimeta, has called on Allah to curse President Bola Tinubu and his supporters, describing the Nigerian leader as an “infidel” over his recent remarks about Prophet Moses and Egypt.
Jimeta made the remarks in Hausa while delivering a Friday sermon (Khutbah) to his congregation in a video published by SaharaTV and circulated on social media on Sunday.
The cleric questioned Tinubu’s presence in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where the president recently performed the lesser Islamic pilgrimage, Umrah, arguing that non-Muslims were not permitted to enter the holy city.
“He is in Mecca now. The people in Mecca do not know who he is; if they knew, they would have chased him away. He is an infidel in Mecca. Infidels are not allowed to enter Mecca. Tinubu is an infidel,” he said.
Jimeta subsequently invoked Allah’s curse against the president and extended it to those supporting his administration.
“May Allah curse Tinubu. May Allah curse anyone who supports Tinubu,” he said.
The cleric’s criticism was also directed at comments Tinubu made on October 19 while addressing members of the City Boy Movement in Abuja, where he defended his administration’s decision to remove petrol subsidy.
Tinubu had drawn an analogy from the biblical and Quranic accounts of Prophet Moses, also known as Musa in Islam, leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
Defending the removal of petrol subsidy, the president recalled how the Red Sea parted to allow Moses and the Israelites to cross, arguing that Nigeria should not reverse the policy.
“I remember my scripture studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Quran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced a challenge, and the Red Sea parted and gave way. You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt,” Tinubu said.
He made the remarks while rejecting calls by some opposition politicians for the restoration of petrol subsidy, which his administration abolished on May 29, 2023.
Reacting to the statement, Jimeta questioned what the president meant by saying Moses could not return to Egypt, arguing that the remarks were offensive because Moses was a prophet of Allah.
“May Allah curse him. How can Tinubu compare himself to Moses? Moses was a Prophet. Who is Tinubu to compare himself to Moses? This is an insult to Islam,” the cleric said.
He also questioned the meaning of the president’s reference to Egypt and Moses, insisting that the prophet would eventually return to Egypt for what he described as further liberation.
“I, Jimeta, gave him an answer. Sooner or later, Moses shall return to Egypt for further liberation,” he said.
Jimeta also brought Tinubu’s wife, Senator Remi Tinubu, into the controversy, claiming that she had previously made similar remarks.
Tinubu performed Umrah at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Friday, October 30. The Presidency said the president used the pilgrimage to pray for Nigeria’s peace, unity, stability and prosperity.
