By Dipo Awojobi – The Federal Government has extended the ongoing Eid-el-Fitr holiday to Thursday.
The Federal Government had initially declared Tuesday and Wednesday as holiday.
This was based on the calculation that the Ramadan would end on Monday. However, with the extension of the fast to Tuesday, which makes it the complete cycle of 30 days, the holiday was extended by another based on a statement by the Federal Government.
The Minister of Interior, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), in a statement on Tuesday, signed on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Bassey Okon Akpanyung, added Thursday to the two days.
While justifying the extension, Dambazau said the decision followed the directive by the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, to the effect that the Ramadan fast continues on Tuesday as a result of the non-sighting of the moon.
The statement urged Nigerians to “use this period of sober reflections to ensure harmony, unity and peaceful co-existence, while giving full support to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the sustained effort to pursue socio-economic and political growth of the nation”.
