Photo: Sunday Aghaeze
President Muhammadu Buhari today joined other Muslims at the Mambila Barracks Eid ground in Abuja in the observance of the end-of-Ramadan prayer.
In a sermon, Imam Lieutenant Colonel Hamisu Mustapha admonished the congregation to keep alive the virtues and values of Ramadan even afterwards to sustain the eternal peace and salvation earned.
He stressed the need for genuine repentance from sin, love for one another, forgiveness, tolerance, and constant prayers to Allah, saying that they are a weapon against all adversities of life.
The Imam was also emphatic that extra effort must be made in obeying the commandments of Allah, exercising patience for His sake, as well as maintaining the competition in good deeds for humanity, mutual co-operation and brotherhood.
Special prayers were offered for an end to the various challenges threatening the peace, and the conduct of the next general elections.
Speaking with newsmen after the prayers, the President admitted that the situation in the country had been giving him sleepless nights. He however reiterated that the government would not rest until the enemies of state were crushed.
On the forthcoming general election, the president reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to free, fair and transparent process.
Our State House correspondents report that this is the first time President Buhari has observe Eidul Fitri prayers outside the Presidential Villa, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reporting by Abdullah Bello; editing by Muzha Kucha