25th October,
2021
PRESS RELEASE :
2023 : ON YORUBA MUSLIM PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WE
STAND -MURIC
As public
discourse in Nigeria zeroes in on the 2023 presidential election, an Islamic
human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has reaffirmed
its preference for a presidential candidate from the Yoruba Muslim stock. MURIC
argues that no Yoruba Muslim has ever occupied Aso Rock either as a president
or vice president since indepence in 1960 whereas three Yoruba Christians have
enjoyed that luxury.
This was made
known in a statement issued on Monday, 25th October, 2021, by the
director and founder of the human rights organisation, Professor Ishaq
Akintola.
MURIC said, “As
public discourse in Nigeria zeroes in on the 2023 presidential election, we see
the need for us to reiterate our position on the need for a Yoruba Muslim
presidential candidate from the South West. This we find necessary in view of the
proclivity of Nigerians for mass amnesia.
“First, it is
imperative that we remind Nigerians that this is not the first time that MURIC
is making a case for a Yoruba Muslim president. In fact it is the fourth time
and we have the record.
“Our first
statement on the matter was issued on 23rd February, 2021 and it
was captioned ‘Why Has No Yoruba Muslim Ever Occupied
Aso Rock?’
“The second statement on it was on 11th May, 2021 under the
title ‘On Yoruba Muslim Presidential Candidate We Stand: MURIC Tells Obasanjo. That
statement was made when feelers emerged that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was
trying to draft the current president of the African Development Bank (ADB), Akinwunmi
Adesina, to the contest for the highest position in the country.
“The third occasion was on 7th June, 2021 when we noticed
that mischief makers were trying to use our position on the matter to create
religious acrimony. They deliberately misquoted us and claimed that MURIC had
rejected Christian candidates whereas that was not true. It is still not true.
That clarification was made under the title ‘MURIC Clarifies Statement on
Yoruba Muslim President’.
“Our claim that we have issued three separate statements on the matter
is verifiable and the following links can be checked by those who are
interested : (https://thedailyvendor.com/yoruba-muslim-must-replace-buhari-come-2023-muslim-group/);
(https://dailypost.ng/2021/05/11/2023-its-time-for-yoruba-muslim-presidential-candidate-islamic-group-tells-obasanjo/);
(https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/muric-clarifies-stand-over-2023-yoruba-muslim-presidency/).
“We find it necessary to reaffirm our position today because presidential
candidates are now warming up while the political parties are mapping out their
strategies for 2023. This is the time to send out a reminder to the leadership
of all political parties.
“The circumstances which led
to those statements are as valid today as they were in February 2021 when we
issued the first statement. No Yoruba Muslim has emerged as
president since independence. Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo has been president
twice: once as a military head of state (1976 – 79) and as a civilian president
(1999 -2007). Earnest Shonekan was an interim head of state (August 1993 – November 1993). Today
we still have a Yoruba Vice President who is also a Christian (Professor Yemi
Osinbajo).
“In the same vein, it has been persecution and
stigmatisation galore for Yoruba Muslims since independence. They are denied
almost all civil liberties. Admission seekers who are Muslims are denied
attractive courses in tertiary institutions. It is easier for an elephant to
pass through a needle’s eye than for a Yoruba Muslim graduate to secure
employment. Yoruba Muslims are marginalized in political appointments.
“To make
matters worse, Yoruba Muslim women who use hijab are deprived of the dividends
of democracy in several ways. Many cannot get international passports, driving
licences and voters registration cards because they are asked to remove their
hijab for capturing. School authorities take the cue by humiliating hijab-wearing
female Muslim students and the courts in the South West are littered with
litigations on this ignoble stereotyping.
“MURIC’s office has been inundated with complaints
of profiling of Muslims and flagrant infringements of their Allah-given
fundamental human rights. Yoruba Muslims are denied rights which are clearly
written in the constitution and which their fellow Muslims enjoy in Northern
Nigeria. What government officials and workers dare not try with Muslims in the
North are perpetrated in the South West with shocking impunity. We therefore assert
clearly, unequivocally and authoritatively that Yoruba Muslims are endangered
species.
“It is our
belief that Yoruba Muslims need federal might to eliminate or at least scale
down the tornado of oppression and the Tsunami of anti-Muslim sentiment that pervades
the South West. Only a Yoruba Muslim president who knows what has been
happening can do this effectively. Who feels it knows it.
“For
microscopic clarity, however, we assure Nigerians that our desire for a Yoruba
Muslim presidential candidate is not for a pound of flesh from Yoruba
Christians and their government officials who have been oppressing Muslims in
the region for ages. Rather it is for a president who will rescue Yoruba
Muslims from the shackles of religious apartheid without denying the Christians
their fundamental human rights.
“Again, it is important to state that this is not
a categorical statement for the rejection of a Christian presidential candidate
in Nigeria. This statement is on the South West alone. We have no objection to
a Christian from any other part of Nigeria emerging as the presidential
candidate. What we are saying is that a Muslim should be picked if the 2023
presidential candidature is zoned to the South West by any political party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, MURIC has no
favourite political party in this affair. Any political party that picks a Yoruba
Christian as its presidential candidate come 2023 should simply kiss Yoruba
Muslim votes goodbye. No political party should tell us that they cannot find
competent Yoruba Muslims.
“Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim, a manufacturer
of leaders and a mentor of performers. Dr. Muiz Banire is a Muslim. Lagos
deputy governor, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, is a Muslim. Fashola, Aregbesola,
Oloyede, Senator Fatai Buhari, Dr. Abdul Lateef Abdul Hakeem, etc are Muslims of
Yoruba stock who have distinguished themselves in public office. Stop marginalizing
Yoruba Muslims. We have the stuff. On Yoruba Muslim presidential candidate we
stand.
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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