17th
November, 2021
PRESS RELEASE :
OSINBAJO : MURIC BARES ITS MIND
An Islamic human
rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has waded into the
controversy surrounding the recent allegation of christianisation levelled
against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The group related what it knows about the
Vice President and insists on truth, fairness and objectivity.
MURIC’s opinion was
expressed in a press statement issued by its director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola, on Wednesday, 17th November, 2021.
The group said, “A certain document alleging
christianisation on the part of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was circulated
last week and we decided to investigate. This is what the Glorious Qur’an 49:6
recommends for Muslims in such circumstances. We should not just believe
everything we hear or read in these days of fake news. We should investigate in
order to get to the root of the matter before taking a stand.
“We were actually surprised
when certain facts were revealed to us during our investigation. We may not
belong to the VP’s camp in any way, either politically or in matters of creed,
but MURIC must consistently hold on to the truth.
“Blackmail,
character assassination, fake news and disinformation are not in the character
of Muslims. It has never been part of us. Hurting the innocent is equally alien
to our DNA. Instead of hanging their actions on the necks of their adversaries,
Muslims own up when they are the culprits. They prefer to be punished in this
world in order to escape from the punishment of the Hereafter.
“It is our
oppressors who always make sure that they are the first to cry out when indeed
they are the aggressors. No true Islamic group will engage in mischief, lies,
deceit and intrigues. Genuine Islamic groups are transparent. You can read them
just as you read a book.
“It is these
characteristics that have been nagging at our conscience since the controversy
surrounding the allegation of christianisation levelled against Vice President
Osinbajo began. The great Shaykh Uthman Bin Fudi said ‘Conscience is like a
wound, only truth can heal it’. Our conscience was jogged and it is only by
telling the world what we know that we can have rest of mind.
“During our
investigation, we stumbled on an article written by a female Muslim
presidential aide in the VP’s office. The article, which surfaced recently on
social media, affirmed the presence of 18 Muslim officials in Osinbajo’s
office. The onus is on those who accused the VP of christianisation to prove
that some or all of those Muslim names in the VP’s office were fabricated to
convince Nigerian Muslims that the VP is neither a hater nor an oppressor of
Muslims.
“However, an
opportunity to confirm one of the claims made in the article defending the VP
came our way just by chance and we feel compelled by principle to share the
information since we are stakeholders. Nations are built by stakeholders who
speak the truth. On the other hand, they are destroyed by those who withhold
the same truth.
“The opportunity we
refer to occurred way back in 2018 or 2019. It provided a concrete and
undeniable evidence which we witnessed by ourselves as a group and it confirmed
that Mr. Abdul Rahman Ipaye, a Muslim and a former commissioner in Lagos State
who was mentioned in the article as the highest staff in the VP’s office is,
indeed, a bona fide staff of Osinbajo.
“What happened was
that the director of MURIC was invited to deliver a lecture at an Islamic event
organized by the League of Imams, Ikeja branch. We stand to be corrected but at
least it was organized by an Ikeja-based Islamic organisation. The programme
was held in one of the popular hotels in Ikeja, Lagos. We also remember that
Dr. Saheed Timehin, another lecturer from the Lagos State University, delivered
the second lecture at the event.
“It was after we arrived at the venue that we learnt that
VP Osinbajo was to be the chairman of the occasion or the special guest of
honour. We felt that the organisers had committed a fatal mistake by inviting Christian
and a pastor for that matter. We thought the VP would not come and if at all he
would honour them, he would send a representative. But we were wrong. Yemi
Osinbajo was there physically.
“He also gave the
organisers so much time after the programme because we remember him inviting
about six Muslim leaders to what looked like a conference room. The director of
MURIC was one of them. He asked them to table whatever they wanted the Federal
Government (FG) to do for their organisations.
“Each leader made
his group’s requests. We remember vividly that the request made by MURIC was
that FG should free the 54 innocent soldiers who were serving a ten year jail sentence.
The Vice President told the director of MURIC to quickly forward a petition to
his office in Abuja. The petition was forwarded within three days.
“This is our only
personal experience with the VP. We never met him again since then. As usual, the
director of MURIC did not attend that lecture alone. He was accompanied by
about five members and they all saw the VP that day though they were not in the
conference room for the private discussion.
“We can also confirm that the VP was accompanied by the
most senior staff in his office, Mr. Abdul Rahman Ipaye, who was mentioned in
the article written in defence of the VP. In fact it was Mr. Ipaye who called a
week later to confirm that our petition on the 54 soldiers had been received by
the VP. This can at least confirm that the VP has Muslim staff in his office.
“MURIC is known for
raising its voice against those who oppress Muslims but we do not wish to be
known for remaining silent when we see Christians who accommodate Muslims. Objectivity
demands that we speak up for the good Christian who accommodates Muslims. This
is what we are doing today so that our consciences can rest.
“Nigerians already
know our stand regarding the politics of the land come 2023, It is a principled
stand but that does not stop us from speaking up in support of the truth. Afterall
we are not politicians who feel no qualms withholding facts or calling black
white.
“Our position can be
likened to that of a man who was present where the death of somebody occurred.
He saw that the man stumbled and fell. No man was near him. But an innocent man
who was standing several meters away was later accused of pushing the deceased
to his death and was being tried for murder. This man has a duty to tell the
jury what he witnessed or live with the heavy burden on his conscience till he
dies.
“MURIC has no
connection whatsoever with the VP. Therefore, we are not doing this because we
are close or because we have a deal. The director of MURIC will not take a
political appointment. In fact, just a few weeks ago, we had cause to publicly
accuse Osinbajo of involvement in the FG’s attempt to demolish the Islamic City
on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. We claimed that he was acting as proxy for the
Redeemed Camp. But the VP has denied any involvement in that. We have to give
him the benefit of doubt.
“We must speak up when a Christian does the right thing.
That is objectivity. That is fairness. That is humanity. That is Islam.
Speaking up for Muslims alone but closing our eyes when a Christian performs
righteous deeds is not fairness. We reject selective activism.
“Allah will ask us yaom
al-Qiyamah if we hide this testimony just because the man being accused
today is a Christian. Neither should MURIC sweep the truth under the carpet and
pretend that it knows nothing simply because the group does not share the same
political ideology with the VP. We accused the VP a few weeks ago of being
behind FG’s plan to demolish the Islamic city on Lagos –Ibadan Expressway but
he has denied any knowledge of it.
“Having political
differences is not a crime, neither is it a sin before Allah. But to allow an
innocent man suffer the pangs of perjury when speaking the truth by those who
have some facts may help in vindicating him is punishable by Allah. We prefer
to tell the bitter truth and be mocked by homo sapiens in this world
than to face Allah’s punishment in al-Akhirah for hiding the truth.
“Our findings are not exhaustive. Neither do they
foreclose further inputs from other Islamic organisations and individual
Muslims. But they are without prejudice to our stand on major issues in the
political arena. We are already committed to another project. Our major concern
is that political and religious differences apart, an innocent man should not
be crucified simply because he is a Christian. We insist on truth, fairness and
objectivity.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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