The National Chairman of the Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah (JIBWIS), Sheikh Muhammad Sani Yahya Jingir, has reaffirmed his support for Muslim-Muslim political tickets, saying his position predates President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“I wonder how Nigerian Christians would call for voting for their own, but somebody will say I have no right to ask for whom we should vote for,” he said.
Jingir further argued that his support for a Muslim-Muslim ticket was not specifically about Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“My Muslim-Muslim ticket is not on Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, but anybody who believes in what I believe in, on the fact that Nigerian Muslims have suffered enough with their leaders being killed,” he said.
Jingir, who spoke while responding to the controversy generated by his recent remarks on Nigeria’s political leadership, said he had the right to advise Nigerian Muslims on how to exercise their voting rights.
Jingir said his position on Muslim-Muslim tickets was a longstanding personal conviction and did not originate with Tinubu.
“My calls and position on Muslim-Muslim tickets is a long-time thing; it didn’t start with Tinubu,” he said.
According to him, Tinubu’s decision to run with a Muslim running mate was why he had continued to speak about the President and urge support for the ticket.
“Because he was the one who accepted it, that is why I will continue to talk about him and voting for him, and this is my personal opinion,” Jingir said.
The JIBWIS leader also denied making statements beyond his call for Nigerian Muslims to exercise their constitutional voting rights and support candidates they believe in.
The cleric maintained that he stood by his call for Muslims to support Muslim-Muslim tickets, citing what he described as years of discrimination and suffering experienced by Muslims in Plateau State.
“Voting Muslim-Muslim tickets is what I stand on, because we have suffered enough in the hands of Christians in Plateau State,” Jingir said.
He alleged that Muslims in parts of the state had faced political marginalisation despite their numerical strength, questioning the fairness of the electoral process.
“In my state, which we were there before its creation as a state, Christians said we don’t belong and that we should be expelled,” he said.
The JIBWIS leader also denied making statements beyond his call for Nigerian Muslims to exercise their constitutional voting rights and support candidates they believe in.
“What I said on the day is what I stand on,” he said.
He cited historical political developments, including the assassination of the former Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, and the illness of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, as part of the experiences that shaped his views.
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