APC alerts Nigerians on alleged fresh plot to use religion for election purpose

The All Progressives Congress has alerted Nigerians to a fresh plot by desperate politicians to circulate leaflets, in mosques and churches, asking Muslims to only vote for Muslims in the forthcoming elections.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the plot was in line with the track record of those who have consistently used religion to divide Nigerians in order to feather their political nest.

”They are hoping that by further inflaming passion with the highly emotive issue of religion, they can revive their shrivelling political fortunes. That is why they have devised the latest strategy of pitching Christians against Muslims through the circulation of satanic leaflets. Nigerians should not be taken in by this cheap plot,” it said.

The APC reminded Nigerians of the most recent attempt to use religion as a tool to win votes, when Vice President Namadi Sambo said the PDP has more Muslims than the APC, and that the APC Vice Presidential candidate was a pastor who runs 5,000 churches.

”It must baffle every right thinking Nigerian what the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stands to gain by his resort to base instincts. It is more baffling against the background of the fact that it was his party, the PDP, that first labelled our party, the APC, as a Muslim party.

”Not even when the APC elected a Christian as its National Chairman, supported by many party officials who are also Christians, did they back off from their incautious claim. It did not occur to them that our party is more religiously diverse than they have sought to portray it to Nigerians,” the party said

It said while the APC has been campaigning on issues of relevance to

Nigerians, including how Nigerians will be put back to work, how the citizens will be better protected, how they will be weaned from their forced dependence on electricity generators and how the party’s Governors have delivered the dividends of democracy in their states, those on the other side have been trading in negative and inciting campaigns of the most primitive kind.

”We ask Nigerians to disregard anyone peddling religion as a tool for securing votes in any part of the country. Faith is a personal thing to individuals and no responsible government will seek to use religion to divide the people,” the APC said.

French Muslims’ Electoral Bid Criticized

The announcement of a French Muslim party decision to take part in local elections next March has sparked anger among some politicians and rightists, considering the move a step towards further “isolation” of the religious minority in the European country.

“It’s a downright provocation, and an insult to Muslims,” Geoffrey Carvalhinho from the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), told RFI on Sunday, February 15.

“I’ve gone door-to-door in my neighborhood and spoken with Muslims and many have told me they don’t want to make a huge fuss and dance about being Muslim.

“They’re French, end of story.”

Carvalhinho’s comments came a few days after the Democratic Union of French Muslims (UDMF) announced its intention to join the electoral race next month in a bid to provide French Muslims chance to air their views.

Taking part in elections for the first time, the (UDMF) has put up two candidates in the March election in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, which has a large percentage of immigrants.

Another seven UDMF candidates will run for the regional elections in other cities including Marseille, Lyon and Nice.

Slamming the UDMF’s electoral bid, Carvalhinho, who will be competing for mayoral post town of Pantin on the outskirts of Paris, claimed that French Muslims may be forced to choose between their country and their religion.

“Do we have a Catholic party, a Jewish party, no, so why should we have a Muslim party?” questions Jacques-Elie Chabert, a CEO of a local TV station targeted at the Muslim community.

However, Chabert believes that UDMF’s aim to enter the political mainstream may be French Muslims’ last resort to correct their image and fight Islamophobia after Paris attacks.

“It’s the best way of promoting pride among Muslims,” he said.

Fueling Far-right

Joining criticism against UDMF decision, some observers argued that the party’s political bid may fuel the far-right activism in France.

“I am against all the things which can separate and divide people”, Gérard Prudhomme, a deputy-mayor from Seine-Saint Denis, a tough Parisian suburb, said.

“This kind of initiative will further boost the Front National’s clout,” Prudhomme warned.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen’s party, the Front National, criticized the UDMF electoral bid as “backward”, claiming that it would aggravate tensions and divisions.

FN and other parties’ claims were dismissed by the Muslim party that stressed it is not a “religious” one.

The UDMF, which has 900 members and 8,000 supporters, is widely known for its pro-Islam agenda that aims to promote Islamic finance and lift hijab ban in French schools.

The Muslim party also aims to promote the use of Arabic in schools and “fight against dangerous stigmatization that equates Islam with terrorism,” according to the party’s founder Nagib Azergu.

Founded in 2012, the UDMF came in response to the spread of the negative portrayal of Muslims and Islamic culture as “harmful, hostile and dangerous.”

The Party’s declaration to take part in March election came a month after Paris attacks that left 17 killed, including two Muslims.

The National Observatory Against Islamophobia said over one hundred incidents have been reported to the police since Charlie Hebdo attacks of January 7-9.

The rise in attacks over the last two weeks represents an increase of 110 percent over the whole of January 2014, the organization said.

Moreover, a Muslim father was stabbed to death in his own home in southern France this week by a neighbor who claimed to be avenging Charlie Hebdo.

Credit to Islamonline

Keep Islam Away from Politics: Nigeria’s NSCIA

A leading Islamic group in Nigeria has warned against dragging Islam into politics and ongoing elections campaigns, cautioning political parties and supporters against the use of religion card in upcoming elections.

A sponsored advertisement in the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) "contained a concocted documentary which embarrassingly maligns Islam and portrays Nigerian Muslims in bad light," Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, said in a statement cited by the Vanguard.

He noted that such advertisement, especially on a national television owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria, "is sending a very dangerous signal of a seemingly impending religious war to the populace."

Moreover, the council berated the unprofessional move by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, for its failure to monitor what goes on the airwaves.

NSCIA argued that airing such adverts, with the current public utterances of some political and religious leaders in the country, suggested a “dangerous hidden agenda”.

“To avert any such crisis, therefore, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs hereby calls on the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, which statutorily regulates the broadcast activities in the country, to be alert to its duty and ensure that a religious war does not ensue as a result of dereliction of duty on its part,” Professor Oloyede warned.

The criticism comes as the electoral chairman Attahiru Jega announced a reschedule of the general election last Saturday night, citing primarily an advisory by the security agencies that the poll be shifted by at least six weeks.

The Nigerian general election of 2015 will be the 5th quadrennial election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999.

Analysts say the vote is too close to call, the most tightly contested election since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

Ahead of elections, Nigerian Muslim leaders have reiterated calls for unity and peace during the election race, amid escalating threats from Boko-Haram militants.

Credit to Islamonline

Who Is This Muhammadu Buhari- Profile

Nigeria's former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, 71, is not a quitter

Defeated in the last three elections, he has returned to contest the highest office.
Mr Buhari will face incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta region, for a second time at the polls in February.
It looks set to be a close race as on this occasion the Muslim northerner has been chosen as the candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, formed last year after four opposition parties merged.
The APC has also been attracting heavyweight defectors from the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has dominated the political scene since the end of military rule in 1999.
Mr Buhari has always been popular among the poor of the north (known as the "talakawa" in the north's Hausa language).
Now some feel his military background and his disciplinarian credentials are just what the whole country needs to get to grips with the Islamist insurgency in the north.
A Muslim from Daura in Katsina State, who has given his support to Sharia in the north, Mr Buhari has previously had to deny allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda.

This proved a problem for him in the 2003 polls - he failed to secure much support among Christians in the south, where he was viewed with some suspicion.
But having escaped an attack on his convoy in Kaduna in July, which bore all the hallmarks of a Boko Haram assassination attempt, he has promised to end the insurgency within months if elected.
He has blamed President Jonathan's weakness for its escalation and has refused overtures to participate in talks with the radical militant group.
His tough stance as a military commander in 1983 - when some Nigerian islands were annexed in Lake Chad by Chadian soldiers - is still remembered in the north-east, now the militants' stronghold, after he blockaded the area and drove off the invaders.
'War Against Indiscipline' He ruled Nigeria from January 1984 until August 1985, taking charge after a military coup in December 1983.
It is a period remembered for a strict campaign against indiscipline and corruption, and for its human rights abuses.
 

• Age 71
• Military ruler of Nigeria from 1984 to 1985
• Deposed in a coup
• Poor human rights record
• Seen as incorruptible
• Disciplinarian - civil servants late for work had to do frog jumps
• Muslim from northern Nigeria
• Survived an apparent Boko Haram assassination attempt

The verdict on Mr Buhari's 20 months as Nigeria's leader is mixed.
About 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed as part of a campaign against waste and corruption.

Some saw this as the heavy-handed repression of military rule.

But others remember it as a praiseworthy attempt to fight the endemic graft that prevented Nigeria's development.
He retains a rare reputation for honesty among Nigeria's politicians, both military and civilian, largely because of this campaign.
As part of his "War Against Indiscipline", he ordered Nigerians to form neat queues at bus stops, under the sharp eyes of whip-wielding soldiers.
Civil servants who were late for work were publicly humiliated by being forced to do frog jumps.
He also introduced a notorious decree to restrict press freedom, under which two journalists were jailed.
However, his attempts to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses.
As part of anti-corruption measures, he also ordered that the currency be replaced - the colour of the naira notes were changed - forcing all holders of old notes to exchange them at banks within a limited period.
Prices rose while living standards fell, leading to a palace coup by Gen Ibrahim Babangida on 27 August 1985. Mr Buhari was imprisoned for 40 months.
Mr Babangida wanted to speed up the restoration of civilian rule, which Mr Buhari did not see as a priority.
'Up to the people' Mr Buhari has continued to defend his military coup of 31 December 1983.
"It is up to the people. If you choose correct leadership, there won't be any need for the military regime.

"The military came in when it was absolutely necessary and the elected people had failed the country," he said in October 2005.
When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a military ruler in the 1970s, Mr Buhari held the key post of minister of petroleum affairs.
But the relationship between the former colleagues cooled as Mr Buhari's coup ousted a civilian government, led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who won elections organised by Mr Obasanjo.
This led to continuing questions about Mr Buhari's commitment to democracy.
Relations between the two former generals may now thaw following what seems to be an endorsement for Mr Buhari from Mr Obasanjo in his recently released autobiography.
Mr Buhari "would not be a good economic manager", wrote the politician who won two presidential elections for the PDP after 1999, but "will be a strong, almost inflexible, and a courageous and firm leader".

3 PDP Members Has Sued Obanikoro To Compound His Woes

Immediate past Minister of State for Defence and governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, yesterday urged a Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja to dismiss the case instituted against him by some chieftains of the party.
Three PDP members in the state, Micheal Babatunde Ogun, Suleiman Olayinka Saheed and Wasiu Adeniyi Odusan had sued Obanikoro on the grounds that he was not eligible to contest the governorship ticket of his party.
Joined as defendants in the case were Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP.
Among other reliefs, the applicants had sought a declaration of the court that Obanikoro was not eligible to contest the primaries based on paragraph 4(a) of Part IV of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Election 2014 of the PDP and his antecedents as particularised in the affidavit in support of the originating summon.
They also sought a declaration that the first respondent (Obanikoro) stood disqualified by virtue of constitutional provisions, including Electoral Act from aspiring for nomination in the governorship primaries of the third respondent or “any registered political party in Nigeria for the purpose of contesting 2015 general elections for governorship in Lagos State or any subsequent elections in Nigeria.”
The applicants sought an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the first defendant from participating in the governorship primaries of the PDP held on Monday “or in the alternative, of any of the registered political parties in Nigeria.”
They also sought for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the PDP from nominating Senator Obanikoro to INEC for the purpose of contesting the 2015 governorship elections in Lagos State or any subsequent elections in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons.
But at the resumed sitting of the court on the matter, yesterday, Obanikoro brought an application through his counsel, Gbenga Ojo, asking the court to strike out or dismiss the originating summons, describing it as an abuse of court process.
He also asked for an order of the court striking out or dismissing the originating summons, which he said did not disclose reasonable cause of action and for any other the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.
Obanikoro based his objection on the grounds that all the documents relied upon by the applicants are ‘either uncertified public document or documents printed from Internet without authentication of the source or certification.’
Counsel to the applicants, Wahab Shittu, however, told the court that they were prepared to move the originating summon since the matter was slated for hearing yesterday.
But Obanikoro’s counsel said there was no need to proceed into the matter since his client has lost the governorship primary election of the PDP in Lagos.
Justice Alogba, however, referred Obanikoro’s counsel to one of the reliefs sought by the applicants in their originating summons, especially the aspect that urged the court to restrain the former minister ‘from participating in the governorship primaries of the PDP or in the alternative, of any of the registered political parties in Nigeria.’
It was at this juncture that counsel to INEC, Juliana Nnamdi said the electoral commission only received the summons yesterday morning in its Lagos office and needed time to respond, urging the court for an adjournment to enable the commision file necessary papers.
Also, counsel to the PDP, Samson Ozah, told the court that they were yet to file any process as they only got instruction to represent the party yesterday morning.
Justice Alogba adjourned the matter to January 14, 2015 for hearing of the originating summon while urging all parties to file all applications before the adjourned date