Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, has warned against using religious identity as a tool for political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Fani-Kayode said comments attributed to Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yahaya Jingir, in support of retaining the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket could alienate Christian voters and provide opposition parties with an issue to exploit against President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The former Minister of Aviation spoke in a Facebook post on Monday while reacting to Jingir’s remarks at an event in Kano, where the cleric reportedly advocated the continued use of Muslim-Muslim tickets and declared his support for the arrangement.
Fani-Kayode said the remarks had generated reactions from Nigerians across religious lines, adding that he had received numerous calls and messages from both Christians and Muslims expressing concern.
He said he was more troubled by what he described as the apparent endorsement of Jingir’s position by the Kano State governor.
“There is only one thing worse, and that saddened me more than what he said, and that is to have seen my friend and brother, the Governor of Kano State, cheering him on and celebrating it,” he said.
Fani-Kayode warned that political leaders should avoid rhetoric capable of deepening religious divisions in the country.
“We will not keep quiet and watch our faith being dragged all over the floor because of politics. Matters of faith and salvation are far more important than anything we see or get in this world.
“Politics and earthly power come and go, but faith and the afterlife are eternal. This divisive rhetoric has to stop, and we should stop playing with fire,” he said.
According to him, Jingir’s remarks were particularly inappropriate in a country with a large Christian population and at a time when Nigeria is facing allegations abroad of religious persecution.
“You do not talk like that in a country with over 120 million Christians,” he said, arguing that such comments could inadvertently reinforce narratives that the Nigerian government and its supporters have repeatedly rejected. Vanguard
