THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has said that all Muslims in the South-West must support Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 general elections.
MURIC director, Ishaq Akintola, said this on Monday, November 28, while speaking to journalists at the University of Ibadan.
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Akintola said Muslims from the region have suffered for decades, adding that those who have either become President or Vice President from the zone are Christians.
He stressed that the South-West Muslims under the aegis of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) have no other option than to support Tinubu in 2023 because he is the only known presidential candidate from the region.
“MUSWEN endorsed the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and I want to affirm that MUSWEN has no other choice. They don’t have any other alternative,” he said.
“MURIC has said it earlier that we are supporting a Muslim presidential candidate from the South-West because, the Yoruba Muslims have suffered for decades. All those who have been either President or Vice President are Christians.
“From Obasanjo to Diya to Shonekan and now to the current Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, all of them have been Christians.
“At this time, we are supporting MUSWEN for endorsing Tinubu. MURIC has said it earlier that we want a Muslim presidential candidate and since Tinubu has emerged as the APC candidate, the South-West Muslims have no other choice than to support him.”
MUSWEN had last week declared support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
President of the association, Rasaki Oladejo, said Tinubu deserved the position, noting that their support for him was not based on religious affiliation but on competence as well as his track records in the field of politics.
He advised members of the association against voting for any other candidate apart from Tinubu.
“We are supporting Tinubu to become Nigeria’s President in 2023. Our support for him is based on his competence and track records. We can all see his performance as governor of Lagos State and the state till date remained the number one most viable state in Nigeria with lots of innovations.”
He said the choice of Kashim Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate was just a coincidence, adding that people should vote en-masse for Tinubu in the general election.
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