Nigerian Christians Brace for Election as Islamic Clerics Call All-Muslim Ticket 'a Jihad'

The Pillar ^ | 2/21/23 | Fr Justine John Dyikuk

[marshmallow]

Islamic religious leaders have backed an all-Muslim presidential ticket as a political "jihad" ahead of the Feb. 25 elections.

Nigeria’s Christian leaders are calling for both full engagement in the country’s democratic process, and faith in the viability of the country’s future, ahead of elections scheduled for Feb. 25, after Islamic religious leaders have backed an all-Muslim presidential ticket on religious grounds.

The country’s upcoming election took on religious significance after the governing All Progressive Congress party decided to field an all-Muslim ticket for president and vice president, in a departure from the country’s customary electoral practice, which sees parties pairing a Muslim and a Christian.

The APC ticket has drawn support from prominent Islamic clerics in Nigeria, who have called on the country’s Muslims to vote along religious lines, fueling national tensions amid an ongoing series of mass attacks on Christian communities.

In January, clerics and representatives from over 75 Islamic groups from several Nigerian states and including both ethnically Yoruba and Igbo Muslims, held a special prayer conference in Kano, Northwest Nigeria, where they prayed for the success of Bola Tinubu's candidacy, and encouraged the country’s Muslims to see the election in religious terms.

The host of the Kano conference, state governor Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of Kano State, recalled to the assembly the contentious 1993 election — the last time an all-Muslim party ticket ran for office but saw the election victory overturned by the courts — and said "History will not repeat itself and there will be no annulment this time around.”

Outlining the purpose of the Kano gathering, the conference’s convener, Nigerian Islamic preacher, Dr. Abdullmudalib Muhammad Auwal said that “The participants are Muslims and Islamic clerics. We gathered Muslims from all persuasions to enlighten them on ensuring that the Muslim-Muslim ticket succeeds."

[UnwashedPeasant]

The election was 2/25. Now they are counting the vote the way they do in Arizona.

Updated counts here: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/02/28/live-updates-final-results-of-2023-presidential-election-as-declared-by-inec-2/

The Muslim candidate from the article is in the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and is currently ahead.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Heads will roll after the election.