Four northern governors, who are members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have come under criticism over their alleged reaction to remarks made by Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yahya Jingir who described Christians as infidels, claiming that Nigeria belongs to Muslims.

The controversy followed comments made by the cleric on Saturday during a mass wedding ceremony organised by the Kano State Government for 1,500 couples whose marriages were sponsored by the government.

Speaking at the event, Sheikh Jingir said he had no regrets supporting the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, arguing that the decision reflected the numerical strength of Muslims in the country.

He further suggested that Muslims were taking over Nigeria.

A video of the event which has gone viral on social media showed the cleric making the remarks while the governors of Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara and Katsina States — Abba Yusuf, Umar Namadi, Dauda Lawal and Dikko Umar Radda respectively — were present.

Some of the governors appeared to cheer and applaud the cleric as he made the controversial remarks, triggering criticism from several Nigerians.

Reacting to the development, former Minister of Aviation and Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, expressed disappointment over the conduct of the Kano State Governor.

Fani-Kayode said the governor’s alleged reaction to the remarks was more disturbing to him than the cleric’s comments.

“There is only one thing worse and that saddened me more than what he said and that is to have seen my friend and brother the Governor of Kano state, cheering him on and celebrating it.

“We will not keep quiet and watch our faith being dragged all over the floor because of politics,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Also reacting, Plateau-based cleric, Prophet Isa El-Buba, condemned the governors’ alleged reaction to the comments.

In a video circulating online, El-Buba questioned the conduct of the governors and criticised the security situation in Northern Nigeria.

“I saw the governors cheering him. This is how insane all of you are in Northern Nigeria. Are you not ashamed of the banditry and other criminalities in the North?

“We have the highest level of power and drug addicts in the North, are you not ashamed of it?” he said.

Similarly, social media influencer Dan Masani described the incident as a tragedy.

He wrote on X: “The Sheikh preaching hate is not my concern, the tragedy with this video is that three state APC governors; Kano, Katsina and Jigawa were all cheering and in agreement with the Sheikh.”

“The insecurity in Nigeria and the North in particular is state sponsored,” he alleged.

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The leader of the G100 political pressure group, Salihu Lukman, has admitted that persuading opposition presidential candidates, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, to work together ahead of the 2027 election is a difficult task.

Lukman, who is also a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), spoke on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday while discussing the group’s efforts to forge a common front among opposition parties and their presidential candidates.

He said the major challenge was that the leading opposition figures all wanted to become president, while their supporters remained committed to seeing their preferred candidates emerge.

“The point you raise is really a very serious issue, and all that we keep saying, which we emphasise, each one of them wants to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but only one of them can be president,” Lukman said.

He acknowledged that managing the competing ambitions and loyalties within the opposition was “a very difficult task”, but said the G100 was urging both the candidates and their supporters to prioritise the broader objective of defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to him, allowing the opposition candidates to contest separately could repeat the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

“If we encourage them to go in this divided way, we will repeat what happened in 2023 and come back to square one,” he said.

The ADC chieftain argued that the primary objective should be to present a formidable opposition capable of giving Nigerians confidence and challenging President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The main opponent is the APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. That is the main opponent. If we encourage them to continue to contest against each other, it will strengthen the main opponent,” he said.

He explained that the G100 was engaging opposition leaders on two fronts: encouraging them to negotiate and produce a common presidential platform, while also developing a shared agenda for governance if they defeat the APC in 2027.

“The second level when they win the election, what are they going to work on? These are the two issues that we are pushing,” Lukman said.

He added that the proposed alliance should go beyond replacing political leaders, insisting that the opposition must explain how it intends to address Nigeria’s problems.

“It’s not about changing faces in government. It’s about also coming up to say, look, at the end of the day, we acknowledge Nigeria is faced with this problem, and this is how we intend to tackle it,” he said.

Lukman said the group had received “encouraging signals” from some opposition leaders and was conscious of the limited time remaining before the 2027 election.

Arise Television’s The Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has predicted a bloody Osun State governorship election.

He said it would be a “miracle” for Governor Ademola Adeleke to win amid what he described as the deployment of federal might.

Oseni made the remarks on Tuesday while analysing the forthcoming election.

According to him, the influence of the Federal Government would be a major factor in determining the outcome of the poll.

“Coming back to Osun elections, like I’ve been saying, the number one factor in this election is the power of federal might, and federal might has been used very well.

“That’s why I predicted it’s going to be a miracle if Adeleke passes this test because of federal might. And when I’m saying this, I’m saying this because I want the people of Osun to go out there and put their money where their mouth is,” he said.

While expressing concern over the possibility of violence during the election, Oseni alleged that people had already been injured in incidents linked to the poll.

“I’m not saying it to distract Osun people. Like I said before, this election will be very bloody. People were also hurt this morning.

“A few days to election, people were also hurt. So it’s going to be a bloody election. Pure and simple, because there are a lot of moving parts,” he added.

The broadcaster further argued that the  the presence of a strong third candidate could work against Adeleke, citing previous election patterns.

“And when you check election history, any time you have a cocktail of federal might and you have a big third candidate, it doesn’t favour Adeleke,” Oseni said.