MURIC: ‘VP is not pursuing a religious agenda’

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BY MOHAMMED ADAMU, NOVEMBER 17, 2021 | 02:33 PM


Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, an Islamic rights advocacy group, said Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria ‘loves and accommodates Muslims despite being a Christians and a member of the clergy.’

The group said this while reacting to a recent allegation accusing the vice president of pursuing a religious agenda by appointing and nominating mostly Christians into government.

In a statement issued by Prof. Ishaq Akintola, director of the group on Wednesday, MURIC said the allegation is ‘false’ and misleading.

Mr. Akintola explained that this is a result of findings MURIC conducted after receiving the allegations.

MURIC noted that the vice-president accommodates Muslims and has appointed about 18 of them into various offices under him.

'During our investigation, we stumbled on an article written by a female Muslim presidential aide in the VP's office. The article, which surfaced recently on social media, affirmed the presence of 18 Muslims officials in Osinbajo's office. The onus is on those who accused the VP's of Christianization to prove that some or all of those Muslim names in the VP's office were fabricated to convince Nigerian Muslims that the VP is neither a hater nor an oppressor of Muslim.

'The opportunity we refer to occurred way back in 2018 or 2019. It provided concrete and undeniable evidence which we witnessed by ourselves as a group and it confirmed that Mr. Abdulrahman Ipaye, a Muslim and a former commissioner in Lagos who was mentioned in the article as the highest staff in the VP's office is, indeed, a bona fide staff of Osinbajo,’ a part of the statement read.

It said objectivity demands that the vice president speak up for the good Christians who do the right thing.

'Blackmail character assassination, fake news and disinformation are not in the character of Muslims. It has never been part of us. Hurting the innocent is equally alien to our DNA. Instead of hanging their actions on the necks of their adversaries, Muslims own up when they are the culprits. They prefer to be punished in this world in order to escape from the punishment of the hereafter.

‘MURIC is known for raising its voice against those who oppress Muslims but we do not wish to be known for remaining silent when we Christians who accommodate Muslims. Objectivity demands that we speak up for the good Christian who accommodates Muslims. This is what we are doing today so that our consciences can rest,’ the statement said.


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