A northern Islamic cleric, Mallam Saleh Muhammad Jimeta, has called for curses against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the Nigerian leader as an “infidel” and claiming that worshippers in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, would have chased him away if they knew his identity.
Jimeta made the remarks during a Friday Khutbah, the Islamic sermon delivered during the weekly congregational prayer, in a video obtained by ChroniclesReporters.
In the video, the cleric repeatedly invoked Allah’s curses against Tinubu and individuals supporting his administration, while questioning the Nigerian president’s presence in Mecca and making controversial claims about his religious identity.
“May Allah curse Tinubu,” Jimeta declared.
“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.
“A great infidel.
“May Allah curse Tinubu. May Allah curse anyone who supports Tinubu,” he said.
The cleric subsequently shifted his sermon to comments he attributed to Tinubu concerning Moses and Egypt, repeatedly questioning the meaning of the alleged presidential statement that “Moses will never come back to Egypt.”
According to Jimeta, Tinubu had made the remark the previous week and allegedly repeated it in another statement.
“That is not what I wanted to tell you,” the cleric said before returning to the subject.
“He said, ‘Moses will never come back to Egypt.’ Did you hear what he said yesterday?
“What does he mean? He said it himself last week, with his own mouth: ‘Moses shall never come back to Egypt,’” Jimeta told his congregation.
He also dragged Tinubu’s wife, Senator Remi Tinubu, into the controversy, claiming that she had previously made a similar statement and suggesting that she was responsible for influencing the president’s position.
“The same thing his wife Remi said before. After all, she was the one who taught him.
“That ‘Moses will never come back to Egypt,’” the cleric said.
Jimeta further disclosed that he had already responded to the statement, offering what he described as a counter-response and predicting that Moses would eventually return to Egypt for further liberation.
“I, Jimeta, gave him an answer. ‘Sooner or later, Moses shall return to Egypt for further liberation,’” he declared.
Repeating the statement, the cleric emphasised that he was responsible for the response, saying he had expected that Tinubu might not have heard about it.
“I was the one who gave him that response: ‘Sooner or later, Moses shall return back to Egypt for further liberation,’” he said.
Jimeta added that he believed the president had not heard his response, suggesting that Tinubu would have been visibly shaken if he had come across it.
“I thought he had not heard that response. If he had heard it, he would have jumped up and been shaken,” he stated.
The cleric subsequently returned to questioning the meaning of Tinubu’s alleged remarks, asking his congregation to consider the identities of Moses and Egypt and what they represented in the context of the president’s statement.
“But before he told us, ‘Moses will never come back to Egypt,’ what did he mean?
“Who is Moses? Moses. What is Egypt?” he asked.