Ibrahim Shuaibu in Dutse
An Islamic cleric who attended a meeting of Muslim scholars in northern Nigeria has disputed claims that more than 500 participants endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for re-election in 2027.
Sheikh Abdurrahman Abubakar Azzamfari said the endorsement was neither discussed nor agreed upon by the scholars who attended the Muslim Intellectual Forum meeting in Dutse, Jigawa State.
Azzamfari rejected that account in a video message circulated on social media.
“The talk that 500 scholars at the meeting agreed to endorse and re-elect Tinubu is not true. That was not discussed with us at all,” he said.
He also disputed reports that the participants had given the President “100 per cent” support for a second term.
Azzamfari said the scholars should first have been given an opportunity to present their concerns and recommendations to the government before any discussion of political support.
“If they want us to support Tinubu, let them hear our views and suggestions, and let us see them carried out in truth,” he said.
He said any agreement reached with the scholars should be formally documented and presented to them.
According to Azzamfari, the Dutse meeting was the fifth gathering organised by the Muslim Intellectual Forum since April. He said earlier meetings were held in Kaduna and Abuja.
He said he attended three of the five meetings in Abuja, Kaduna and Dutse, adding that 12 scholars were selected from each northern state to attend the latest gathering.
Azzamfari said the forum had initially been presented to participants as a non-political platform intended to enable Muslim scholars to advise the government and support citizens affected by economic hardship.
“They told us we were invited not for politics, but to help the government and to distribute support to the people as those close to them,” he said.
He said participants were also expected to identify government shortcomings and recommend ways to address them.
The cleric, however, criticised the conduct of some of the meetings, alleging that scholars were not given adequate opportunities to present their views.
He also recalled what he described as difficulties during a previous meeting in Kaduna, including the use of loud music while participants were gathered for the event.
“We were gathered there with loud music. Only Allah knows the kind of distress we went through because of that music,” he said.
Regarding the Dutse meeting, Azzamfari said participants waited from about 11a.m. until after 2:30p.m. before governors and other officials addressed them.
He alleged that journalists were later asked to leave the venue and were subsequently invited back.
“After the governors spoke, journalists were sent out. Later they were called back and told that we endorsed Tinubu’s re-election,” he said.
Azzamfari described the situation as embarrassing and alleged that the scholars had not been adequately consulted before the reported endorsement was announced.
He further claimed that only one scholar from Kano State was allowed to speak for about two minutes before being stopped.
“Only one scholar from Kano was allowed to speak for two minutes out of over 500 scholars gathered. Then he was stopped,” he said.
The cleric declined to disclose details of any money or other items allegedly provided to participants, saying that was not the immediate issue.
He also criticised what he described as attempts by politicians to use religious leaders for political purposes without sufficiently involving them in decision-making.
Azzamfari said that if the organisers intended to pursue reforms through the forum, they should have consulted the scholars, agreed on specific measures and timelines, and documented the commitments.
He stressed that his position should not be interpreted as either support for or opposition to Tinubu.
“I am not with oppression and I am not with lies. Whenever I am invited to something good, I will go. If it is good, we support it. If not, I will not do it,” he said.