Nigerians have said they are prepared to search for the new moon of Shawwal 1445 AH after the sunset of Monday, April 8, despite the crescent not sighted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This, they said is in accordance to the directive of their leader, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General Supreme council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III.
Muslim News gathered that following Saudi Arabia’s inability to sight the crescent thereby announcing Wednesday as Eid-il-Fitr, some Nigerians have erroneously concluded that fasting will continue on Tuesday, which makes this year’s Ramadan completes 30.
Investigations by this medium however revealed that Nigeria is independent of Saudi Arabia moon sighting and signal – whether negative or positive from the Kingdom should serve only as information for consumption and not to be used as determinant by Nigeria.
The National Moon Sighting of the NSCIA therefore urged Nigerian Muslims to look for the new moon after sunset of this evening (Monday, April 8). If the moon is sighted anywhere in Nigeria tonight, tomorrow, Tuesday is Eid-il-Fitr. If not, Nigeria with the largest Muslim population in Africa, will also be celebrating its Eid-il-Fitr alongside Saudi, which has already declared Wednesday, April 10.
“There is no need for any back and forth on this matter. We have agreed that Sultan is the leader of the Muslims in Nigeria, so our duty is to hear and follow our leader, that’s all,” said, a respected Muslim journalist.
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