The co-chairmen of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, have urged religious leaders to exercise restraint in their statements and prayers ahead of the 2027 general elections.
They warned against using religious platforms to inflame political tensions.
The religious leaders made the call on Wednesday at the 2026 Second Council Meeting of NIREC, held in Abuja with the theme “Shared Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria.”
The Sultan urged Christian and Muslim leaders to avoid using sermons, prayers, and religious gatherings to attack political leaders or promote division, stressing the importance of praying for the nation’s leaders regardless of personal or political differences.
He said religious leaders should not make inflammatory comments about candidates or political office holders during the electioneering period.
“We’re in to campaign for 2027 elections. So our religious leaders must be wary of what they say at the churches or mosques or any religious gathering,” the Sultan said.
He urged religious leaders and their followers to pray for the president, governors, and members of the National Assembly, rather than praying for their downfall.
“No matter how bad you think they are, continue to pray. That prayer will make God touch their lives, and then they will change,” he said.
The Sultan also cautioned against turning religious gatherings into platforms for political campaigning, saying religious leaders should promote peace and encourage responsible participation.
He further called on religious leaders to speak honestly with one another and avoid spreading false information after interfaith meetings.
According to him, Nigeria’s interfaith dialogue remains important because it provides an avenue for Christians and Muslims to address issues affecting the country’s stability and development.
“I don’t want you to tolerate me. Because if you tolerate me, there’s nothing you can do but tolerate me. But if you understand me, you can work with me; I can work with you, because we know who we are to each other,” he said.
The Sultan also called for a firm stance against corruption, urging religious leaders to support the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in prosecuting anyone found culpable, irrespective of their religious status.
He said corruption could not be justified by religious office or influence, adding that those found to have violated the law should face the consequences.
“Whoever does something wrong, he should face the law. And when he is facing the law, don’t tell me he is the pastor of a church; he is the chief Imam of a mosque. We don’t want to hear that,” he said.
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On his part, the CAN president, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, said religious institutions had a major responsibility to use their influence to promote peace, reconciliation, and national unity.
Okoh said Nigeria’s challenges, including insecurity, poverty, unemployment, inequality, communal tensions, and a crisis of trust, required collective action beyond religious or sectional interests.
He urged religious leaders to carefully consider the impact of their words and actions on society.
“As religious leaders, therefore, we must ask ourselves: What kind of Nigeria are we helping to create through our words, our actions, and our influence?” he said.
The CAN president called on churches and mosques to use their platforms to build bridges rather than walls and promote reconciliation rather than suspicion.
He said Christians and Muslims could work together in areas such as peacebuilding, education, youth development, humanitarian assistance, poverty reduction, ethical leadership, and the protection of vulnerable people.
Okoh also stressed the need for religious leaders to affirm the sanctity of human life, saying the suffering of a Christian should concern a Muslim and vice versa.
“When any Nigerian is killed, displaced, kidnapped, or deprived of dignity, our common humanity demands that we care,” he said.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the meeting, similarly urged religious and traditional leaders to promote peace and prevent political activities from becoming a source of religious or ethnic conflict.
Akume said politics should be conducted through democratic processes rather than religious platforms.
“During the upcoming electioneering campaign, please issue the clear, unambiguous public message: that politics belongs in the ballot, not at the altar or mosque,” he said.
He also urged religious leaders to prevent political thugs from using places of worship as sanctuaries and encouraged Christians and Muslims to organize joint prayers and peace initiatives ahead of the elections.
The SGF said the government was concerned about insecurity arising from banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, and terrorist attacks, adding that security agencies were intensifying operations to protect Nigerians.
He called on religious and community leaders to complement government security efforts by using their influence to counter narratives capable of promoting division.
“All religions must condemn the barbaric tactics of bandits and terrorists because they debase humanity and violate all that our faiths stand for. We must stand together today saying, “Enough is enough,” Akume said.
Ahead of the 2027 elections, the SGF announced plans for NIREC to convene state-level forums before the end of 2026 involving police commands, INEC officials, and religious representatives to identify potential flashpoints and promote peaceful elections.
He also called for the mobilization of youth and women’s groups through churches and mosques as peace advocates, while urging religious leaders to support peace caravans and promptly counter social media misinformation targeting religious groups.
Akume said the government would support follow-up workshops in key geopolitical zones to implement commitments arising from interfaith peace initiatives.
He also proposed deeper cooperation between security agencies and NIREC through liaison desks at strategic locations to facilitate real-time sharing of threat information.
The SGF stressed that peace was essential to economic development, noting that insecurity discourages investment, disrupts businesses, and prevents parents and children from safely accessing markets and schools.
He urged religious leaders to renew their commitment to national stability, saying Nigeria’s resilience and history of unity could help the country overcome its current challenges.
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