Sokoto State government is receiving praises for funding pro-Buhari prayers on foreign soil. State commissioner for religious affairs Mani Katami on Tuesday said the government was sponsoring a 90-man contingent of Islamic clerics to Saudi Arabia with N91 million.
The clerics, popularly called “alfas”, are going to the Holy Land to pray for ailing President Muhammadu Buhari who is receiving treatment in London as hospitals back home in Nigeria couldn’t make him whole.
Katami said each alfa was entitled to a Basic Travelling Allowance (BTA) of N250,000.
We know the move will cost the state government N91 million. The federal government has, however, said it cannot reveal how much money it is paying foreign doctors and hospitals to treat Buhari as disclosing such information could threaten national security.
Buhari, in the past, criticised public officials who spend public funds on foreign medical trips. He even banned his own appointees from doing so.
Katami said the clerics’ mission was clear.
”This is to enable him (Buhari) to come back to Nigeria to continue with the good work he is doing for the country,” he said.
”The clerics are also going to pray for sustainable peace, unity and socio-economic prosperity of Nigeria,” Katami said.
Sheikh Maidamma Shagari, who spoke on behalf of the clerics, praised the state government for the gesture.
Meanwhile, Acting President Osinbajo recently told civil servants that no amount of prayer can move Nigeria forward if they were not interested in putting in the needed hard work.
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