A few days after he raised a whirlwind in the polity with his fanatical support for the governing All Progressives Congress, Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as a platform to maintain Muslim superiority over Christians in Nigeria, the Chairman of the Ulama Council of Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa’ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS), Sheikh Muhammad Jingir, has defiantly declared that he has “no regrets” over his position.
The outspoken Islamic cleric insisted that his advocacy for a same-faith presidency neither began nor would end with President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, declaring that he would continue urging Muslims to support Muslim candidates regardless of who occupies Aso Rock.
Speaking restated his position in an interview with the BBC published on Wednesday, days after his comments at a Kano State Government-sponsored mass wedding ceremony for 1,500 couples ignited widespread criticism across political and religious circles.
During the event, the cleric urged Muslims to sustain the Muslim-Muslim political arrangement and vote in a manner that reflected what he described as their numerical strength, comments that immediately triggered fresh accusations of promoting religious politics.
Rather than retreat in the face of the backlash, Jingir doubled down. He insisted that his position was rooted in Islamic teachings and had nothing to do with advancing President Tinubu’s political interests.
“I am not promoting Tinubu; I am promoting Islam. I am not promoting Tinubu’s Islam… so this is my profit”, he declared.
According to the cleric, any politician who shared his views on what he described as the challenges confronting Muslims in Nigeria deserved the support of Muslim voters.
He argued that Christians routinely encourage their members to vote for candidates they believe in and questioned why Muslims should be denied the same right.
“I have the freedom to say that Muslims should be elected, and to say that Islam should be practised”, he said.
Jingir rejected suggestions that his comments were capable of provoking religious tension, insisting he had merely exercised his constitutional right to express his convictions.
He explained that his support for a Muslim-Muslim ticket was anchored on the Islamic principle that “a Muslim is a brother to a Muslim” and vowed to continue preaching that position despite mounting criticism.
“If a person knows he is telling the truth, then he should not be silent about any slander and noise; he should keep repeating it. That is why I keep repeating it”, he said.
Showing no sign of backing down, the cleric dismissed the criticism with a blunt declaration:
“I don’t even care. This is what you have heard; that is my goal, and I have no regrets.”
Jingir maintained that he would continue defending what he regarded as good Muslim leadership irrespective of the individual occupying public office.
Jingir’s renewed campaign has resurrected one of the fiercest debates of the 2023 presidential election.
When Tinubu selected Kashim Shettima as his running mate, the Muslim-Muslim ticket attracted widespread condemnation from Christian organisations, civil society groups and prominent northern politicians, who argued that it undermined Nigeria’s religious diversity and threatened national cohesion.
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