Nigeria, April 16 -- The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, speaks to PREMIUM TIMES on the raging controversies about his alleged previous views on Islamic extremism and recent retracted news publication that he was on a U.S. watchlist.

Excerpts:

PT: There was a recent publication alleging that you were on U.S. watchlist over your views on terrorism and terrorists. Although the reports have now been retracted by those who published it, have you ever had any suspicion that you were being watched for anything?

Pantami: Thank you for meeting me for this interview. Firstly, I hardly grant interview. Some issues were drawn to my attention. I contacted my lawyer, and he is working on it. So, because of this, I will ...