14th
January, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
TINUBU’S DECLARATION : A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT –MURIC
The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, declared his intention to contest for the post of president of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria on Monday, 10th January, 2022. Subsequently,
an Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has confirmed
Tinubu as a candidate that fits into its long-term aspiration for a Yoruba Muslim
president. The group described Tinubu’s declaration as a welcome development.
This was disclosed to journalists on Friday, 14th January, 2022
by the director and founder of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
MURIC said :
“It is no longer news that the national leader of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has declared his intention to
contest for the post of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This
happened on Monday, 10th January, 2022.
“It will be recalled that our
organisation has repeatedly demanded the emergence of a Yoruba Muslim candidate
for the post of president of this country because of the prolonged religious persecution
being faced by Muslims in the South West. We have been consistent in this
demand. This is verifiable in at least four different press statements issued
by us in the past.
“One, on 23rd February, 2021 under the title ‘Why has no
Yoruba Muslim Occupied Aso Rock?’ (http://saharareporters.com/2021/02/26/yoruba-muslims-wont-support-any-non-muslim-candidate-2023-presidency-%E2%80%94muric;
https://www.naijachoice.com.ng/2023-why-has-no-yoruba-muslim-ever-occupied-aso-rock-muric/; https://www.independent.ng/
“Two, on 11th May, 2021, we
wrote, ‘On Yoruba Muslim Presidential Candidate We Stand: MURIC Tells Obasanjo’
(https://www.thecable.ng/muric-yoruba-muslim-must-get-2023-presidential-ticket-regardless-of-political-party;
https://dailypost.ng/2021/05/
Three, on 7th June 2021, our statement was entitled ‘MURIC
Clarifies Statement on Yoruba Muslim President’ (https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/muric-clarifies-stand-over-2023-yoruba-muslim-presidency/; https://theeagleonline.com.ng/
“Four, on 25th
October 2021, our press statement was captioned ‘On Yoruba Presidential
Candidate We Stand’ (https://punchng.com/2023-
“Tinubu’s declaration for the
highest post in the land is therefore a welcome development. Also in pursuit of
this campaign, MURIC has spent the last four days from Monday 10th
January, 2022 (when Tinubu made his declaration) to Thursday, 13th
January consulting its state branches in the Yoruba states : Lagos, Ogun, Oyo,
Osun, Ondo and Ekiti. The outcome of our investigation reveals a resounding
support for Tinubu’s declaration.
“All our state branches confirmed
that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu has been close enough to Yoruba Muslims. The
Lagos chapter of MURIC also vouched that although Tinubu is not the type that
will marginalise Nigerian Christians, at the same time, he will not estrange Yoruba
Muslims or ignore their complaints when he becomes president of Nigeria.
“This is the time Yoruba Muslims
need the support of their Muslim brethren all over the country to ensure that
Tinubu emerges as the candidate of his party at the primaries. They should also
vote for him massively during the presidential elections to ensure that he
emerges as the president of Nigeria to be sworn in on 29th May,
2023.
“This is the only fair thing that can happen to Yoruba Muslims.
Interestingly enough, nobody can claim that the advent of Tinubu as the
president of Nigeria is unfair to Yoruba Christians because at least three Yoruba
Christians have been both presidents and vice presidents of Nigeria.
“Mathew Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo was military head of state and president
(1976 – 1979, 1999 – 2007). Earnest Shonekan was interim head of state (August
1993 – November 1993). Right now, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a pastor of the
Redeemed Church, has been vice president of Nigeria for the past seven years (from
2015 to date).
“But no single Yoruba Muslim has had the opportunity to taste power in
the centre. It is therefore the turn of a Yoruba Muslim and the cap fits Ahmed
Tinubu, a Muslim born into a strong Muslim family. Yoruba Muslims are proud of
Tinubu as a politician of timber, caliber and caterpillar. He has the mandate
of Yoruba Muslims.
“We sound out a caveat emptor to all political parties in the
country. Any party that picks a Yoruba Christian as its presidential candidate
is on its own. Yoruba Muslims and, indeed, Muslims North and South, will not
vote for such a candidate.
“We do not wish to be misunderstood. We will therefore reiterate our
position on Christian candidates in the coming presidential election. MURIC has
no objection to Christian candidates emerging from any other geo-political
zone. It means we are not saying that a Christian cannot be president of
Nigeria. We are simply saying that such a Christian should not be a Yoruba man
or woman.
“Yoruba Muslims have been marginalized for so long. Politically, Christians
have monopolised ministerial positions, state commissionership, boards and
agencies. Economically, civil service jobs are selectively offered. The
education sector has been the Archiles heel of Yoruba Muslims and a
concentration camp where Muslim children are forced to adopt Christian culture.
A Christian president from the South West
will therefore turn the headache of Yoruba Muslims into migraine.
“MURIC will not be partisan. We will give all
political parties a level playing ground. Therefore, we will also support any
other political party that picks a Muslim candidate from the South West. No
political party should claim that it cannot find qualified Muslim politicians
when the likes of Babatunde Fashola, Dr. Muiz Banire, Dr. Abdul Lateef Abdul
Hakeem, Senator Fatai Buhari, Rauf Aregbesola, etc, are making waves on the Nigerian
political architecture.
“Our target is
the liberation of Yoruba Muslims from the shackles of political marginalisation,
socio-economic repression and educational enslavement. While MURIC will never
exhibit enmity, derision or contempt towards Christians and people of other
faiths, it has zero tolerance for Muslim haters. Aluta continua : no
retreat, no surrender until victoria acerta.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
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