The National Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad has called on Muslims in Lagos State to come out en masse and vote for the incumbent governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday, March 11 gubernatorial election.
Mr. Sanwo-Olu, a Christian, is seeking re-election as the executive governor of Lagos State under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the same party that produced Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on Friday during a thought-provoking Khutbah at Ansar-Ud-Deen Central Mosque, Ajao, Surulere, Lagos, Sheikh Ahmad broke his age-long stance of refusing to publicly side with any political party or candidate as he canvassed for the return of Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, the incumbent deputy governor.
Speaking in Yoruba, the eloquent Muslim scholar said, “Sanwo-Olu is not a Muslim, but we will cast our votes for him. This is because we have no animosity against Christians or non-Muslims and Allah does not forbid us from being good to people who treat us fairly, except for those who threaten our existence, treat our religion with disdain and rob us of our land, culture and heritage. Such candidate does not stand a chance”, he said.
Muslim News gathered that the move to support Sanwo-Olu was the collective decision of the Lagos Muslim community in the continuity of their support for Nigeria’s president-elect, who survived ethno-religious plots within and outside the party during the election process.
Recall that the Lagos Muslim community recently endorsed the re-election bid of Mr. Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat, the same day they declared support for the President-elect, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at an interactive session in Lagos.
Some of the Muslim organisations that attended the event where the Muslim agenda was presented to the APC leadership include Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Nawar-Ud-Deen, Anwar-Ul-Islam, Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and many others.
A vote for other candidates is against Islam: Sheikh Ahmad
Sheikh Ahmad on Friday told the congregation that the 2023 election has been characterised by ethno-religious sentiment by some unscrupulous elements, saying, “We all saw what happened during the presidential election. Muslims were the ones who voted mostly for Asiwaju in Lagos. Now is not the time for lamentations or blame game. Let’s attend to the pressing issue on ground first, we all know what is at stake right now.”
According to him, “We are ready to make sacrifices and let go of some things. Come next Saturday, March 11, a vote for any other candidate apart from APC Lagos is a vote against Islam. They already founded the 2023 elections on religion and it will be detrimental not to play along, it will be to our loss.
VIDEO: Sanwo-Olu @JermainSanwoolu isn't a Muslim but he's the one we are voting. Why? – Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad explains in his Khutbah of Friday, March 3, 2023
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“There’s no other way to go about it. Peter Obi did not set foot on the door of any Mosque, any Muslim center or gathering. He believes we are inconsequential and relied solely on the Christian population and Igbo support. He went to churches, sermonised to Christians and tasked them to “take back” their country. God alone is all we have as Muslims, so, He stood by us and made us victorious.”
Several other Central Mosques in Lagos also dedicated their Friday Khutbah to sensitise their members on their civic duty regarding the March 11 gubernatorial and state assembly elections.
Supporting Sanwo-Olu is in the overall interest of president-elect, Muslims: Imam Lekki
Muslim News was also at the Lekki Central Mosque, Lekki, Lagos, where the Chief Imam Jamiu Ridwan similarly said supporting Sanwo-Olu during the gubernatorial race is about “choosing the lesser evil” in the interest of Islam and in the overall interest of the president-elect.
According to him, concerning our position in the forthcoming governorship election, for Islamic public interest, we have to support our president-elect, the overall leader of Nigeria (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu), after President Muhammadu Buhari. In this case, Lagos State is very key and important to the nation. So, any governor who will support the president, especially in Lagos, being the commercial capital of the country, would be the one that will get our support because indirectly, if we support APC in Lagos, we are also supporting the President.
“Secondly, there is a threat to this patrimony of the Yoruba nation. We can only join hands and swell up the rank of the incumbent who has some level of popularity than joining some of our brothers who do not have such support and popularity. It will be in the public interest, as well as the Islamic interest to choose the “lesser of two evils”. In this case, we have to support Sanwo-Olu.
“This is the position of Lekki Muslim Ummah and IMC – Island Muslim Community, including Eti-Osa, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and that is our position, ” he noted.
Why Lagos Muslims should vote for Sanwo-Olu – Sheikh Ahmad
In this interview with Muslim News after his Khutbah, Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad shed more light on the Muslim community’s endorsement of Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat re-election bid. Excerpts…
MN: Why did you encourage the congregation to vote for Sanwoolu, a non-Muslim instead of a Muslim candidate?
Sheikh Ahmad: In the run up to the election, we invited aspirants to negotiate our demands, examine them and see who has something to offer us. Unfortunately, most of them did not respond early enough. It was too late before we heard from many, but, we’ve had interactions with the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. We presented him the Charter of Demands of the Muslim Community in Lagos and we’ve had negotiations on how his governance will be inclusive. We have earned his commitment and respect in advancing the rights of Muslims in Lagos.
Therefore, like they say; “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know”, even though I am not referring to him or anyone for that matter as a devil. We could hold him responsible for things on which we’ve negotiated. We presented our Charter of Demands publicly. I remember that Monday, I told the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its gubernatorial candidate in Lagos of our demands. It is on this basis that we have made that decision and the resulting actions, notwithstanding his religious persuasion.
MN: Does your move to endorse Mr. Sanwo-Olu have anything to do with the manifestation of ethno-religious sentiment that played out in the presidential election?
Sheikh Ahmad: Well, to be honest, there’s no way we can totally dissociate our current move from the presidential and national assembly elections. Of course, Peter Obi didn’t reach out to us, he didn’t address any issue concerning the interest of the Muslims. He campaigned in churches and told the Christians to reclaim their country. That to us is a revert to colonial era where Islam is treated with disdain and Muslims treated as second class citizens in their country, in spite of their numerical strength and superiority. You see, Obi’s campaign, urging Christians to take back their country aligned against us as a Muslim community. His approach practically incited Christians and Muslims against each other.
Hence, in Peter Obi’s kingdom, there is no way Muslims could have a sense of belonging. He didn’t even give any room for dialogue. There is no way we could have cast our votes for someone who ignores our existence, someone who neither shows interest in talking to us nor identifying with our interests and frustrations. That will be counterproductive.
We didn’t vote against him because he is an Igbo man, nor because he’s a Christian, Sanwo-Olu is a Christian after all. If he is a Christian compatriot, his party also gave him away as far as I am concerned. So, be that as it may, our decisions still stand.
MN: The Ulamah in Lagos held a meeting last week about the general elections. Can we have an idea of what transpired at the meeting?
Sheikh Ahmad: It was a close door meeting and the discussion are not meant to be disclosed. However, it was a meeting between us and the stakeholders in Lagos to further strengthen negotiations and discuss the interest of Muslims in Lagos State. We didn’t even expect men of the All Progressive Congress to be part of the meeting initially, but when they requested to join, we obliged and gave them a piece of our mind before proceeding with our meeting.
As of last week, we were still praying that the elections go smoothly without giving priority to any religion or ethnic consideration, despite provocative statements, verbal assaults and confrontations coming from Christians. They were the ones who turned this election into a religious affair, it wasn’t our doing. All we did was tell Muslims to vote their conscience based on their most pressing interests and conviction of inclusiveness, even if the candidate is not a Muslim.
Looking at the voting pattern in five eastern states for instance, you wonder why they were the only ones carting away almost all the votes and this did not happen in other states, not even in core areas of the north. People voted generously for every candidate. We pray for leaders who will see themselves as leaders of Nigeria and not just of a people, tribe or religion and protect the interests of every community and group irrespective.
MN: How would you describe the turnout during the last election?
Sheikh Ahmad: We have implored our people to go out en masse and cast their votes as it is their civic responsibility and in the course of the sermon, we enlightened them on that as well. We gave everyone a wake-up call. We acknowledged the steadfastness of our brothers in the north who stood firm on their principles and promises made. They are the heroes of this election.
It’s high time our brothers from the east wake up. You cannot prowl on other people’s territory, disrespect them, threaten to rob them of their heritage and estrange them in their land. We should be more mature and progressive in our thinking. We need to build bridges and form alliances. They threaten anyone that if they don’t vote for them, they’ll suffer the consequences. It’s not done that way. No one is under compulsion to vote for you or your candidate.
I hope their leaders will call them to order and they will go back to their core values. They should be considerate and respectful towards others.
Subsequently, no one will blame the north and southwest for the alliance they formed. And until we are confident that our interests and territories are protected, we will continue to be defensive. Out of conviction, we will only vote for candidates who show us respect and assure us that our interests will be well served.
