Religious Rhetoric Fuelling Division in Nigeria
Recently, during a Mass wedding rally in Kano, an Islamic scholar, Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir, made a controversial statement that Muslims should insist on a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2027 presidential election. During this speech, the Sheikh, who referred to Nigerian Christians as infidels, stated that Nigeria is a Muslim nation and therefore, Muslims should leverage their numerical strength to secure Muslim leadership. His remark did not go unnoticed, as it sparked a vigorous online debate.
His claim that Nigeria is an Islamic country, together with his remarks that those who think otherwise should look for another place, have been interpreted as a call for such people to leave Nigeria. Others saw his insistence on a Muslim-Muslim ticket as implying that Muslims should not vote for Christians. More troubling was that he made the statement in the presence of governors and other politicians, who cheered him rather than condemning or even frowning at his divisive rhetoric.
Leading Muslim leaders and politicians have condemned the statement, including Kano-born Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NDC’s vice-presidential aspirant, who said that Jingir’s statement does not represent Kano’s people.
The statement has also drawn widespread condemnation from Muslims and from leading Christian groups, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), and the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (NCA).
The chairman of the NCA, John Hayab, strongly and specifically condemned Jingir’s use of the term “infidels” to refer to Christians and warned that such remarks could exacerbate religious tensions (The Guardian, 11 August 2026). The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu, described Jingir’s remarks as hateful and inflammatory, contrary to equality and peaceful coexistence, and called for Jingir’s arrest (Vanguard, 12 August, 2026).
Jingir has since tried to clarify his position, saying his statement on a Muslim–Muslim ticket was his personal view and didn’t represent the JIBWIS, the Islamic organisation he is associated with (The Nation, August 11, 2026). Jingir recently said he has “no regret” for his call on Muslims to vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, with his supporters regarding his call for a Muslim–Muslim ticket a legitimate democratic choice, calling the backlash on Jingir “politically selective’’ and arguing that politicians who condemn Jingir should reckon whether they had in the past rallied for votes from religious and regional considerations.
The Bane of a Country where Religion and Politics Trade Hands
Nigeria’s political and religious space is not immune to politicians and religious leaders washing each other’s hands in a mutually symbiotic interest, with politicians tilting towards a religious ideology to gain votes. In contrast, religious leaders, including extremists, sell candidates who flag their religious ideology.
The widespread implementation of Sharia law by Northern Governors in 2002 was a calculated political strategy to win votes from the majority of Muslims who adhere to the dominant Salafist, Sharia-inspired Islam in Nigeria, while ignoring the outcry from minority Christians, Sunni and liberal Muslims, and traditionalists in the region who opposed the move.
Essentially, most Northern governors didn’t adopt Sharia because they were religious; they did so because it’s the only way to gain political support and the confidence of the majority of voters who rely on the utterances and teachings of Sharia-inspired Imams when making political choices.
The ruling APC has benefited from this rhetoric. After the swearing-in of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Tinubu–Shettima, the estranged APC Chieftain, Mallam Nasir El -Rufai, addressing Northern Muslim clerics in Kano, said that no one could win an election on a Muslim–Christian ticket and claimed that the current president, Bola Tinubu, knew he had to run a Muslim-Muslim ticket to win the election.
The chieftain was quoted as telling the clerics that if the Muslim–Muslim ticket continues, everything will go well for Muslims. He called on Muslims in Kaduna, where he had been governor, and before leaving office, urged his successor to ensure the ticket remains so for at least twenty years (This Day June 11, 2023).
Critics viewed El Rufai’s statement as a bid for Islamic domination of Nigeria, while others called it a red flag for the Islamisation of Nigeria. Some have wondered why government spokespeople and defenders such as Daniel Bwala and Reno Omokri, who had previously attacked Catholic Bishops for criticising the president’s handling of the economy and insecurity, had suddenly gone quiet about Jingiri’s divisive rhetoric.
The ruling APC government has also not condemned Jingiri’s statement, even though it had, on several occasions, condemned the Northern Christian cleric, Rev Ezekiel Dachomo, who had consistently cried out against the government over the continued killing of Christians in Plateau and the Middle Belt.
Clamping Down on Religious Divisive Rhetorics
Many Nigerians are calling on the government to follow the footsteps of Burkina Faso and Ghana, which have now begun a clampdown on clerics who engage in divisive, hateful and inciting rhetoric. Because of political calculation and interest, Nigerian leaders and politicians seem to exploit the deep religious and ethnic divide that has marred the country for their own political ascendancy, instead of bridging and healing it.
During the brutal murder of Deborah Sameul by her classmates, who accused her of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, many politicians refrained from condemning the attack for fear of losing votes in the then forthcoming election. The PDP presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, who had condemned it on his Twitter account, later deleted the post after receiving threats from some Muslims who said they would not vote for him.
In 2026, a Muslim cleric issued a 1-million-naira fatwa against a Christian pastor; he later increased the amount to 2 million. Although he openly called on Facebook for people to hunt and murder the pastor, the government issued no condemnation, nor was an arrest made. This attitude raises the question of whether Nigeria is truly a secular country, as enshrined in the constitution, and supports the claim by Christians and minorities that there is a clandestine agenda by northern elites to Islamise Nigeria.
Nigeria’s criminal code could apply to inflammatory religious conduct that incites public disturbance and threats. One wonders why the Nigerian government looks the other way while radical clerics incite division and violence. This remains an unanswered question. Nigeria needs strong institutions and a government capable of holding divisive figures to account if we believe that everyone in Nigeria is equal and no one is a second-class citizen.
