{"id":195664,"date":"2026-02-21T09:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami"},"modified":"2026-02-21T10:50:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:50:31","slug":"i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","title":{"rendered":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram).<\/p>\n<p>Pantami made this rebuttal on Friday during an interview with BBC Hausa.<\/p>\n<p>He said the rationale of his being in politics is to bring good governance to his people and Nigeria at large.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never said politics is haram.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been a registered APC member since 2019. It\u2019s in the Nigerian constitution that you can\u2019t be a minister if you\u2019re not registered with a political party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Pantami was the Minister of Communication during the administration of later former President Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-minister had also in a recent interview called on Northern elite to prioritise strategic investment in the media industry, instead of mosques.<\/p>\n<p>This was as he warned that decades of underinvestment have created what he described as a \u201cdangerous communication deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami made this rebuttal on Friday during an interview with BBC Hausa. He said the rationale of his being in politics is to bring good governance to his people and Nigeria at large. \u201cI never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":195663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-195664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1043\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"644\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\"},\"wordCount\":165,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\",\"name\":\"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg\",\"width\":1043,\"height\":644,\"caption\":\"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami - Nigeria","description":"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami","og_description":"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1043,"height":644,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami","datePublished":"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami"},"wordCount":165,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg","keywords":["Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami","name":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-21T08:45:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:50:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Former Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami, has denied the allegation that he said politics is evil (haram). Pantami ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771667387.758554.jpg","width":1043,"height":644,"caption":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/i-never-said-politics-is-haram-isa-pantami#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I never said politics is haram \u2013 Isa Pantami"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}