Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has urged to relinquish his position as the secretary of Nigeria’s Peace Committee.

AFNews understands that the call was made in a statement made available to newsmen by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).

The group in the statement signed by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, demanded that the renowned Christian clergy should resign from the General Abdul Salaam-led National Peace Committee.

AFNews reports that Bishop Kukah had in his Christmas message to Nigerians a few hours ago condemned the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the Nigerian leader has failed to solve the insecurity situation in the country. Kukah opined that all that Buhari has done would have led to a coup had it been he was not from the north.

Reacting to Kukah’s message, MURIC said it believes the cleric’s assertions are inconsistent with his status, particularly as the secretary of Nigeria’s Peace Committee.

“How did such a belligerent combatant emerge as the secretary of Nigeria’s Peace Committee? What good can come from a man who is filled with hate and bias for a large section of the country?” MURIC asked in the statement.

The group added: “We demand that Kukah should honourably recuse himself from the Peace Committee. Failure to do so will have a devastating effect of discrediting that committee. It will mean that the committee was set up in the first place for a partisan purpose,”

The Muslim group opined that citizens will no longer have any confidence in the peace committee considering Kukah’s statement, adding that the committee may as well be disbanded.

MURIC said it wondered why the committee had remained silent ever since the Bishop released the statement which has stirred reactions among citizens. It added that this may be interpreted to mean that the secretary is holding members of the committee to ransom. The group demanded the immediate review of the composition and operation of the Peace Committee.

Meanwhile, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Femi Odekunle has died from COVID-19.

AFNews reports that the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said: “A good friend of this government just passed on at 6:30 pm”.