A Muslim rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), on Tuesday, faulted the cabinet composition of Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which has 31 Christians and 8 Muslims.
The group also accused Sanwo-Olu of using and dumping Muslims in the state.
Politics Nigeria recalls that Sanwo-Olu had, on July 28, transmitted 39 cabinet nominees to the state House of Assembly for screening and confirmation.
But MURIC and a coalition of Muslim groups under the aegis of Joint Muslims Forum (JMF) rejected the proposed cabinet nominees list, noting that it has less than 20 per cent Muslim representation.
In defence of the governor, CAN Chairman in Lagos, Rev. Stephen Adegbite, during a press briefing at Alausa on Monday, had noted that Sanwo-Olu’s choice was “based purely on merit, competence, and sufficient capabilities to deliver on the set goals and objectives of the government.”
Adegbite also condemned the remarks of the Muslim groups against the nominations.
But reacting to the state CAN Chairman’s comment, Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, accused the Christian body of hypocrisy and asked if CAN could have endorsed the governor’s list if it was Muslims who had 31 while Christians had only eight.
Akintola said:
“Our response to his vituperations and irrational position is very simple.
Governor Sanwo-Olu supported the Muslim-Muslim ticket not because he was convinced that it was democratic and, therefore, right, not even because he fully supported a Muslim ruling the country, but because he had no choice but to support his principal and political godfather.
“Failure to do so would have endangered his chances of securing a second term. Sanwo-Olu’s perceived support for the Muslim-Muslim ticket was, therefore, a self-preservation move. It was not from the governor’s heart but from his pharyngeal cavity.
“It was, therefore, most inconsiderate and very selfish for the Lagos CAN chairman to base his rationalisation of the ratio 31:8 of Lagos commissioners’ list on Sanwo-Olu’s support for the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“But the hypocrisy of the Lagos CAN chairman will become more glaring if he can agree that he will accept the same arrangement if vice versa, i.e. if Muslims are given 31 slots while Christians get eight only come 2027 when it will be the turn of Muslims to occupy Alausa secretariat”.
He reiterated that the 2027 gubernatorial slot should be for Muslims, adding that the fact that the Lagos CAN chairman “admitted the lopsided 31:8 ratio” shows that it was deliberate.
