El-Rufai Retracts his comment Over Jesus Christ, Mary on Twitter

The ex-minister, in his tweet posted on January 27, 2013, made a sarcastic joke about Jesus and Mary Magdalene aimed at Information minister, Labaran Maku, Dr Doyin Okupe and Dr Ruben Abati.

His controversial tweet reads: “If Jesus criticizes Jonathan’s govt, Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with MaryMadgalene.”

Meanwhile, Christians and other Nigerians have been attacking the ex-minister describing the comments as offensive and attack on Christians.

One tweet reads, “Sir with all due respect. I get u point in dis joke. But why Jesus? It’s not funny”.

On Sunday, one Dr Thomas Agande in his Twitter statement titled “El Rufai Defiles Jesus Christ” said, “He went overboard when, on his Twitter page, today January 27, 2013, said our Lord Jesus Christ had s*x with Mary Magdalene. We see this as a very insensitive, irresponsible, and a offensive thing to say about Christ, and an attack on the sensibilities of Christians globally.

“El-Rufai betrayed his lack of respect for our Lord Jesus Christ and obvious hatred for Christians. How else can one explain his effrontery and buffoonery when he seemingly jokingly twitted that Christ had s*x with Mary Magdalene.

“El-Rufai who aspires rule a multi-religious nation, should have been circumspect in his use of words when referring to the sacred.

“It is on record that less offensive things have been said about the Prophet Mohammed which led to loss of Christian lives.”

Another Twitter user wrote , “This is so irresponsible and insensitive. If Christians should make such reference to Prophet Mohammed we would be counting dead bodies in the north. We Christians are peace-loving and will definitely ignore him but he must be told he is an IDIOT for saying such.”

One person added, “The former minister has just told Nigerians that he lacks the decency to rule a multi religious nation, if he should display such disrespect for the sacred and thinks it is funny. His Tweet shows he is not a decent man. He has disregarded the collective sensibilities of Christians all over the world by this very offensive reference to our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Professor Pat Utomi, a respected voice, immediately went on Facebook to show his displeasure.

“I’m at a loss for words! We should draw the line somewhere? The most Sacred of names must never be desecrated an the altar of politics. PU,” he wrote.

However, El-Rufai has now decided to publish a full statement on his Facebook page, apologising for the joke.

The full statement read:

Hello Friends. I have been travelling and try to catch some sleep in between the last 24 hours and missed all the furore arising from my retweet of Ogunyemi Bukola’s (@zeebook) joke Maku eat al and Jesus. I must say I am taken aback by the extent of desperate misrepresentation of what was an innocuous attempt to show the godlessness of the Jonathanians to denigrate anyone that dares to ask them to be accountable.

To those who were genuinely offended by the retweet, I apologize. I did not meant to offend anyone, neither did the @zeebook I know and featured as one of the Young Voices in my Friday Column. Jesus or Isa Alaihis Salaam is a respected prophet of Islam. Every Muslim accepts this in addition to his miraculous virgin birth. It is therefore absurd for any Muslim believer to disrespect Jesus Christ.

I hope those in this class will see my point of view and accept my apologies for any offense or disappointment caused. And I advise everyone… to read @zeebook’s timeline and mine to read EXACTLY what was tweeted rather than the second-hand reports of certain people who ALWAYS twist whatever I write or not write to achieve their morally-repugnant objectives.

To those in that class of liar – the political contractors who tried to attribute the entire statement to me to destroy perceived political capital, I say keep on doing that till the day your cups will be full. Everything these days is reduced to posturing for 2015,but those doing it do not even know which one of us will be alive to witness the events of that time. I leave all those to God and their conscience.

To the Warriors of God, who misinterpret the Scriptures (both Bilble and Qur’an) and pretend to be capable of fighting His battles, please learn from history. The multiple Crusades and Jihads are yet to convert the entire human race into one religion. If God wished us all to be of one religion, He would have made us so. So please leave God’s work to Him, and just be good to other humans.

I thank all my friends who stood up for me in this saga. They know me better than what the desperate Jonathanians want to paint as El-Rufai. And those that wish to know me a little better should please read my forthcoming book. Thanks and God Bless.

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