“Muslim-Muslim Ticket Victory Proves Nigeria Is an Islamic Nation, We Must Ensure Tinubu Wins to Sustain Our Dominance” — Islamic Cleric Jingir

Islamic cleric Sheikh Yahya Jingir has urged Muslims to support Muslim-Muslim political tickets, calling on them to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and mobilise ahead of future elections.

Jingir made the call at a campaign event organised for Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf under the “Abba Go Again” campaign, where he expressed strong support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Governor Yusuf was also present at the event.

In a speech delivered in Hausa, Jingir described Tinubu as his “political hero” for championing the Muslim-Muslim ticket and said he remained a committed supporter of the arrangement.

“Special thanks to my political hero, Bola Tinubu, who raised the flag of this political ideology, describing it as a purely Muslim-Muslim coalition,” Jingir said.

“I am among the staunch advocates of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and I call on you to come together for Muslim-Muslim ticket.”

The cleric acknowledged opposition to the arrangement from Christians and members of other religious groups but maintained that Muslims were entitled to advocate for candidates who shared their faith.

“As a Muslim, I repeat it, Muslim-Muslim! No going back on this,” he said.

Jingir also urged Muslims to prepare for future elections by obtaining their voter cards, claiming that doing so would enable them to demonstrate their numerical strength at the polls.

“I urge all of us here to go and get our voters’ cards ready. Let’s show the infidels their limit, who claim they are more populous than us in Nigeria. They are lying!” he said.

He attributed the electoral defeat of opponents of the Muslim-Muslim ticket to his position on the issue, claiming that his advocacy helped mobilise support against them.

The cleric further declared that his vote would go to a Muslim-Muslim ticket and asked his audience to support the same arrangement.

“Therefore my vote is for a Muslim-Muslim candidate! What about you, the Muslim umma?” he asked.

Jingir also made controversial comments about the Maitatsine movement, alleging that those responsible for attacks on a mosque in Kano had described themselves as Maitatsine and referring to them as “Christians in disguise.”

The Maitatsine movement was a radical Islamic movement that emerged in northern Nigeria and was associated with violent religious disturbances, particularly in the 1980s.

His comments have generated criticism on social media, with some Nigerians describing the remarks as divisive and inappropriate in a country with a large Muslim and Christian population.

Fani-Kayode: Nigeria Is Not a Muslim Country

Reacting to Jingir’s comments, Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, described the cleric’s remarks as “highly provocative” and cautioned against what he called extremist rhetoric.

“I have immense respect for Sheik Jingir but I am constrained to point out that the extremist rhetoric he has indulged in here is most unhelpful and neither is it true,” Fani-Kayode wrote on X.

He argued that Nigeria was neither a Muslim nor a Christian country, describing it instead as a secular and multi-religious nation.

“Nigeria is NOT a Muslim country and neither is she a Christian country. She is a SECULAR and MULTI-RELIGIOUS state comprising of BOTH Christians and Muslims in equal numbers and that is our strength,” he said.

Fani-Kayode, however, said his support for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2027 election was not based on religious considerations.

According to him, his support was based on the competence, character, integrity, electoral strength and ability of the candidates to deliver good governance.

“We are supporting a Muslim/Muslim ticket for 2027, as we did in 2023, only because of the calibre, ability, sincerity of purpose, character, utility and electoral strength of our Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and their ability to deliver and not because they are Muslims,” he said.

He added that Nigerians could also support a Christian-Christian ticket in the future if they believed the candidates were suitable.

Fani-Kayode urged Nigerians not to allow religious considerations to divide the country, stressing that national identity should come before religious affiliation.

“We must not allow this issue to divide our ranks. We are NIGERIANS before being Christian or Muslim and we must not only stand as ONE but also go to the polls as ONE,” he said.

Dalung Tackles Jingir Over Muslim-Muslim Ticket Comments 

Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has challenged the reported comments of Sheikh Yahaya Jingir on the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, warning against reducing Nigeria’s democracy to a contest over religious numbers.

Dalung, in a strongly worded reaction, questioned the reported argument that continued support for a Muslim-Muslim ticket should be justified by the numerical strength of Muslims in the country.

He described such reasoning as a dangerous departure from the central questions of democratic governance, arguing that the value of a political ticket should be measured by what it delivers to citizens rather than the religion of the individuals occupying the offices.

According to reports cited by Dalung, Jingir had urged Muslims to continue supporting the Muslim-Muslim ticket on the grounds that it demonstrated that Muslims were more numerous than Christians in Nigeria, while also reportedly calling on Muslims to “show infidels their limit.”

Dalung said such language risked deepening religious divisions in a country whose political stability depends heavily on citizens recognising one another as equal stakeholders.

“So, according to Sheikh Yahaya Jingir, a Muslim-Muslim ticket is now a census?” Dalung asked.

“This is where political argument becomes dangerous nonsense.”

He argued that religious identity, by itself, could neither feed families nor solve the problems confronting Nigerians across faiths.

“A Muslim-Muslim ticket does not put food on a Muslim family’s table. It does not secure a kidnapped Muslim farmer. It does not give a Muslim child a good school. It does not reduce the price of fuel, food or medicine,” he said.

“It does not create jobs. It does not fix a broken road or keep electricity on.”

For Dalung, the argument over the religious composition of political leadership should therefore not be allowed to overshadow the issues that directly determine the quality of life of citizens.

He said Nigerians facing insecurity, unemployment, inflation, poor infrastructure and declining purchasing power were unlikely to regard the religious identity of political office holders as a substitute for effective governance.

Dalung was particularly critical of the reported use of the term “infidels”, asking who, in the Nigerian context, should be regarded as falling within such a category.

“Who exactly are these ‘infidels’ in Nigeria?” he asked.

“Your fellow citizens? Your neighbours? The people whose taxes help fund the government? The Christians who have voted for Muslim candidates? The Muslims who reject religious politics? The millions of Nigerians who simply want competent leadership regardless of whether the candidate prays in a mosque or a church?”

He argued that Nigeria’s diversity should be treated as a national asset rather than a basis for religious competition.

“Nigeria is not a religious battlefield where one faith must establish its superiority over another,” Dalung said.

The former minister acknowledged that supporters of a Muslim-Muslim ticket were entitled to make a case for it, but insisted that the argument should be based on measurable issues such as competence, justice, security, economic development and good governance.

“If a Muslim-Muslim ticket is supposed to be defended on the basis of competence, justice, security, economic progress and good governance, then defend it on those grounds,” he said.

“But if the argument has now become ‘we are more in number, therefore we should dominate,’ then we have moved from democracy into religious arithmetic.”

Dalung’s criticism comes against the backdrop of continuing political debate over the religious composition of presidential tickets in Nigeria, particularly ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The issue has remained politically sensitive because Nigeria’s electorate is religiously diverse, with political parties routinely balancing religious, ethnic and regional considerations when selecting candidates.

But Dalung argued that electoral politics should ultimately be about the interests of citizens rather than the numerical superiority of one faith over another.

He maintained that Nigeria belongs equally to Muslims, Christians and citizens who subscribe to neither faith.

“Nobody needs to be ‘shown their limit’ because of the religion they profess.”

According to him, the real test of political leadership should be whether Nigerians are shown tangible improvements in their daily lives.

“What Nigerians should be shown is good governance, justice, security, jobs, affordable food, functioning hospitals and schools, and a government that treats every citizen as equal,” he said.

Dalung said this was the form of majority that should matter in a democracy.

“That is the kind of majority that matters in a democracy,” he said.

“Not the majority in a mosque. Not the majority in a church. The majority of Nigerians who want a country that works.”

He warned that turning religious demographics into a political weapon could weaken national cohesion and distract from the responsibility of political leaders to deliver for citizens irrespective of their faith.

For Dalung, the fundamental question before Nigerians should therefore not be which religion has more followers, but whether those entrusted with political power can provide security, economic opportunity and equal treatment for all.

The former minister’s intervention effectively reframed the Muslim-Muslim ticket debate as a question of what should constitute political legitimacy in a plural society: religious numbers or the ability to deliver competent and inclusive governance.

Meanwhile, reactions on social media were divided.

Some users condemned the cleric’s remarks as religiously divisive, while others defended the right of Muslims to support Muslim candidates.

One X user, @Abdulrasheed_SB, argued that every Nigerian, regardless of religion, had the right to aspire to the presidency.

Another user, @Sheff4real, said that while the strategy might not be appropriate in every part of Nigeria, it could be politically viable in northern states.

The controversy comes as political parties and politicians begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections, with religion, regional interests and the choice of presidential running mates expected to remain major issues in the campaign.