The leadership of the Supreme Council of Islamic Preachers in Nigeria, on Monday, threw their weight behind a Nigerian Presidency of Southern extraction, come 2023.

The council, which insisted that a Southern Presidency in 2023 was non-negotiable, equally observed that the Northern region would have had its turn of eight years in the Presidency at the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration next year.

The apex Muslim preachers’ group made this known in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Sheikh Muhammad Nourayn Ibn-Ahmad, in Abuja.

The council, therefore, urged their followers and the Muslim faithful to consider a power shift to the Southern region in all their political deliberations ahead of the 2023 general elections in the interest of fairness, justice, and equity.

The statement reads, “As shepherds of our respective adherents, now that the 2023 is around the corner, we consider it imperative to explore partnership options that align with the emergence of a Southern Presidency come 2023 and therefore urges our followers across Nigeria to support a Southern Candidate in the interest of fairness equity and justice.

“We are concerned by the way leaders are being thrown up in this country nowadays and believe to ensure lasting solutions, spiritual leaders must play a significant role in the interest of greater peace of Nigeria and the People,” it added.

The Islamic clerics also said they were concerned about the senseless killings in the land, and prayed for a speedy end to the country’s insecurity.

The council further prayed the Almighty Allah (SWT) to reward the Ramadan fast and nightly devotion of the Muslim faithful in full measure, noting that the world is fast changing.

“In concluding this statement on a note of prayer to Almighty Allah to speedily bring an end to incidents of banditry, kidnapping & the general insecurities across the country, we hasten to urge Muslims faithful to imbibe lessons of the Ramadan Bibarakatullah,” the council said. (Vanguard)

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