The Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad III, has blasted faith leaders for not being honest with Nigerians concerning the insecurity ravaging the country.

The Sultan, who is the Co-Chair of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, stated this on Wednesday at the Second Tri-Annual Meeting of NIREC in Abuja.

He warned that the Council would slip into irrelevance except faith leaders embrace sincerity, accountability and honest engagement.

The warning of the monarch is coming as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, pressed for stronger action on insecurity, while the Federal Government dismissed global allegations of religious persecution.

According to him, NIREC had drifted from its founding purpose and must urgently confront internal contradictions weakening its credibility.

“Many years ago, when I walked in here, the atmosphere was very, very friendly and loving. Anyone seeing the discussions and chats going on then would immediately know we were in a happy mood. Now, unless something is wrong somewhere, we need to ask ourselves some questions,” the royal father said.