Sheikh Muhammad Jingir, Chairman of the Ulama Council of Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa’ikamatis Sunnah, has dismissed criticism of his advocacy for a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, saying he has no regrets about his position.
Jingir spoke in an interview with the BBC published on Wednesday, August 12, following renewed reactions to comments he made while speaking at a special wedding reception organised by the Kano State Government.
The event was held for 1,500 couples whose weddings were sponsored by the state government. During the gathering, the cleric called for the continued adoption of a Muslim-Muslim political arrangement and urged Muslims to vote in a manner that would reflect their numerical strength.
Jingir said his position should not be interpreted as an endorsement of President Bola Tinubu or Vice-President Kashim Shettima. According to him, his advocacy predates the current administration and is rooted in his commitment to Islam.
“I am not promoting Tinubu, I am promoting Islam… I am not promoting Tinubu’s Islam… so this is my profit,” he said.
The cleric said Christians were entitled to encourage their followers to support candidates they believed in and argued that Muslims should have the same freedom to receive political guidance from their religious leaders.
He rejected suggestions that his comments were intended to provoke other Nigerians, saying he had simply expressed his views on how Muslims should participate in politics.
“I have the freedom to say that Muslims should be elected, and to say that Islam should be practiced,” he said.
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Jingir said his advocacy was informed by the religious principle that “a Muslim is a brother to a Muslim”. He added that he believed he had evidence supporting his position and would continue to speak about it.
“If a person knows he is telling the truth, then he should not be silent about any slander and noise, he should keep repeating it… that is why I keep repeating it,” he said.
Asked about the criticism generated by his position, Jingir said he was unconcerned about the backlash.
“I don’t even care,” he said.
“This is what you have heard, that is my goal, and I have no regrets, and there is no starting date…calling on Islam,” he added.
Jingir maintained that his intervention was about defending what he considered good Muslim leadership rather than promoting a particular political office holder.
His comments have attracted reactions from political figures, including Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, and Femi Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa.
The cleric was among prominent Islamic scholars who backed Tinubu ahead of the 2023 presidential election after the former Lagos State governor chose Kashim Shettima, also a Muslim, as his running mate.
The 2023 election produced Nigeria’s first Muslim-Muslim presidency since the return to democratic rule in 1999, making the arrangement a major subject of political and religious debate.
With political parties and presidential aspirants positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 election, the question of whether candidates should run with Muslim or Christian running mates is expected to remain a major issue in Nigeria’s political discourse.