3rd March, 2023
PRESS
RELEASE:
2023 ELECTION : MURIC THANKS THE NORTH
An Islamic human rights advocacy group, the
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has expressed appreciation to the North for
keeping its promise on power shift to the South. The group described the North
as the bastion of honour, the citadel of nobility and the abode of integrity in
Nigeria.
MURIC made the declaration in a press statement
signed by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Friday, 3rd
March, 2023.
The full statement reads :
“It is an open secret that Nigeria’s political
parties resolved to shift power to the South in the buildup to the 2023 general
elections. It was argued that it would be unfair to the South if another
Northerner succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari, a Northern Fulani.
“Although
all eyes were on the two major political parties to implement this unwritten
agreement, only the All People’s Congress (APC) implemented it by picking Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, a Southern Yoruba. The main opposition party, the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP), reneged and fielded Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, another
Northern Fulani.
“This resulted in friction within the PDP
leading to the emergence of the G-5 group. Palpable tension gripped the South as
doubts were expressed about the sincerity of Northerners. Cynics argued that the
North would not keep its promise since they now have one of their own, a
Fulani, as the PDP presidential candidate.
“MURIC in particular was derided by non-Muslims
in the South. We were called slaves of the North. But we stood our ground. We
insisted that we trusted the North particularly on the basis of understandings reached
and pledges made at various Islamic fora on MURIC’s avowed project for the
emergence of a Yoruba Muslim president.
“The ground-breaking decision came just before
the parties’ primaries when 12 Northern governors (the Noble Dozen) insisted
that power must shift to the South (https://sunnewsonline.com/apc-northern-group-insists-on-power-shift-to-south/). This enabled Tinubu to emerge as the flagbearer of
the ruling party and ultimately as the President-Elect after the presidential
election held on Saturday, 25th December, 2023.
“A brief analysis of the results of the
presidential election reveals that Tinubu polled the lion share of his votes in
the North to give him his much needed victory. Working on approximate figures
without claiming any mathematical exactitude, the total scores of Tinubu in the
South was 3,196,040 whereas he garnered 5,598,686 in the North, a difference of
about two and a half million. This gave him a grand total of 8,794,726. He
scored 127,370 votes in the South East, 799,957 in the South South and
2,279,407 in the South West.
“The
outcome of the presidential election showed that Northern votes won the
election for Tinubu. The Northern figure almost doubled what he scored in the
South. It showed that Northerners stood by their words. They walked their
talks. They took the path of honour and nobility. They abandoned a Northern
Fulani candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and voted for a Southern Yoruba Muslim
candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We doff our hats for the North. We salute integrity.
The North is a
reliable friend by all standards. The region stood behind Tinubu, a Southern
Muslim, like the Rock of Gibralta.
“In fact, numerous calls received in MURIC’s Lagos headquarters
during the tension-soaked hours of the collation of results proved beyond any
reasonable doubt that our Northern brothers and sisters were even more
concerned than us in the South. We celebrate the North.
“They called to give assurance. They called to know how we were
holding on in the South. The solidarity was rock-solid, tremendous,
unprecedented. But most gratifying were the congratulatory messages that came
from the same Northern brothers to MURIC’s office after Tinubu was declared
winner. We give it to the North.
“With this strong
support for a Southerner coming from the North, the myth of a Northern
oligarchy has fallen apart. The conspiracy theories of the existence of a
Northern Caliphate bent on perpetuating Northerners in power becomes a mirage,
a phantom. The ‘born to rule’ propaganda which haters of the North has been
brandishing has been proved to be false, baseless and unfounded.
“Not only did the
North win this election, it won the battle, pocketed the war itself and carted
away the propaganda. It is a massive and disgraceful defeat for Southern ideologues,
merchants of hate and peddlers of anti-North as well as anti-Muslim fake news. The
North has disappointed the nay sayers and the doubting Thomases. The North has proved, without any iota of doubt, that it
is the bastion of honour, the citadel of nobility and the abode of integrity in
Nigeria. We salute the North.
“It is a big lesson for Southern Muslims who still entertain
doubts about their Northern brethren. It is a big blow for non-Muslims whose
hobby is to create wedges between Southern Muslims and their Northern
counterparts. They sow the seeds of doubt and suspicion in the minds of
Southern Muslims against their Muslim brothers in the North.
“They are always eager to tell Southern Muslims that Northerners
would not pray behind them. They are always anxious to let Southern Muslims
know that Northerners regard them as their slaves. They spread false
information about Northerners and Muslims. We were able to counter all these. They
resorted to blackmail and threats against MURIC when all their tricks failed yet
we were not bothered.
“But the wind has blown. We have seen the ruff of the hen. We
have seen Northern Muslims praying behind Yoruba and Igbo Imams even in the
National Mosque, Abuja. Never again shall we allow confusionists to judge our Northern
brothers for us. Never again shall we doubt our Northern brothers. Never again!”
#ThankYouNorth #NorthIsTrustworthy #NorthIsBastionofHonour
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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