MURIC urges Tinubu to include Prof Olaiya among next 12 ministerial nominees

An Islamic civil liberties organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has asked President Bola Tinubu to include Prof. Abideen Olaiya in the list of 12 ministerial nominees that are in the offing.

This was contained in a signed statement by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, on Friday, July 28, 2023.

According to it, Prof. Olaiya’s appointment is considered to be the next most preferred nominee of the South and North Muslims that will emerge from the South West of Nigeria.

The statement noted that the group had earlier requested that the President appoint at least four Muslim ministers from the South West in order to balance the non-inclusive governance of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

MURIC urges Tinubu to ensure fair representation of Muslims in Muslim-majority states

MURIC implores President Tinubu to consider the choice of the Muslim Ummah in his soon to happen ministerial appointments.

Read the full statement:
“The Nigerian Senate has unveiled 28 names of ministerial nominees sent by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A top party official of the ruling party has also indicated that twelve more names of other nominees are in the offing.

“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) can confidently reveal the name that is making waves among Nigerian Muslims at the moment. Muslims North and South of Nigeria are rooting for Professor Abideen Olaiya as one of the ministers that must emerge from the South West.

“It will be recalled that MURIC had demanded that at least four out of the six ministers from the South West should be Muslims in order to partly make up for the injustice of the past, particularly in the days of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan when all six ministers from the region were Christians to the chagrin of the majority Muslim population.

“No excuse can be acceptable for omitting Olaiya’s name from the ministerial list, not competence, not party loyalty, not even diligence or antecedent. We plead that the choice of the Muslim Ummah be respected.