...To get all news updates, Join our WhatsApp Group (Click Here)
Connect with us on Linkedin (Click Here)
Politics, at its noblest, is the search for the best hand to steer the ship. Politics, at its basest, is the auction of identity to the highest bidder. As Oyo State moves toward Governor Seyi Makinde’s anticipated succession announcement in the first or second week of May 2026, a dangerous whisper is again gaining currency in some quarters: that the next governor “must” be a Muslim, regardless of record, capacity, or character.
Rising from an emergency consultative session in Ibadan at the weekend, the Pacesetter Muslim Professionals for Good Governance, PMPGG, a coalition of Islamic scholars, technocrats, and community leaders across the five zones of the state, has issued this communique to correct that narrative before it poisons the well. The group, chaired by Alh. Abdul-Ganiyy Olanrewaju Adeleke with Dr. Ismail Opeyemi Aderibigbe as Secretary, resolved that the only religion Oyo State should vote in 2027 is the religion of performance.
Since 1999, Oyo State has been governed by Muslims and Christians. Under each, the state has seen progress and setbacks. Yet in the last five years, a factual pattern has emerged that cannot be denied by any honest actor: as a Christian governor, Seyi Makinde’s material interventions in Muslim communities are unmatched by any previous Muslim governor of the state. That record is not sentimental; it is a spreadsheet.
The Record — Projects, Not Promises
Investigations by PMPGG document the following under Makinde, 2019–2026: comprehensive reconstruction of the Adogba Central Mosque Road and drainage; full upgrade of the Oyo State Hajj Camp, Olodo, with medical and lodging facilities; statutory funding and legal backing for the Oyo State Arabic and Islamic Education Board; consistent annual sponsorship and welfare for Oyo pilgrims to Saudi Arabia; renovation of Eid praying grounds in Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Saki, and Iseyin; institutionalised monthly subvention to the League of Imams and Alfas; and inclusion of Muslim scholars in the State Inter-Religious Council with voting rights on policy.
The Historical Contrast
Between 1999 and 2019, Oyo State had three Muslim governors. None established a statutory Arabic Board. Non-institutionalised hajj sponsorship with a dedicated camp. None gazetted monthly support for the League of Imams. This is not to indict those administrations, but to demolish the lazy argument that “only a Muslim can protect Muslims.” Protection is a function of justice, not identity. Makinde has proven it.
The Resolutions of PMPGG
Consequently, the group resolved as follows:
Unity of Faith:
Muslims and Christians in Oyo State are one people before one God. The Holy Qur’an commands, “Hold fast, all together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves.” [Qur’an 3:103]. No family in Oyo State is without both faiths. To weaponise religion is to set brother against brother in the same compound.
Competence Over Creed:
The choice of Makinde’s successor must rest on verifiable capacity to secure, to employ, to build, and to unite. The next governor must listen to instruction, obey the Constitution, and deliver for all Oyo residents, market women, farmers, students, and artisans, whether they face the Qiblah or the Cross.
Rebuke of Religious Merchants:
The group observes with concern that some politicians who failed to build one classroom block while in office are now the loudest in demanding a “Muslim ticket.” This is religious entrepreneurship, not religious piety. We reject it. Islam does not permit using the Deen as a ladder for the inept.
The Economics of Identity Politics
When a ticket is sold as “Muslim” or “Christian,” the buyer spends four years repaying investors, not serving citizens. Contracts are inflated to refund financiers. Appointments go to donors, not to the competent. The masses, Muslim and Christian alike, pay the price in bad roads, unpaid pensions, and unsafe schools. That is the true haram.
The Delegate Warning
PMPGG specifically cautions PDP and APC delegates: any aspirant who approaches you with “I am your brother in faith” but without a documented plan for IGR, security, and other reasonable agenda items is asking you to sell your children’s future for a bowl of sentiment. Collecting money to vote for religion is the same as collecting money to vote for underdevelopment.
The Zoning Fallacy
Some agitators conflate zoning with faith. They argue, “It is the turn of Muslims.” PMPGG states categorically: the only turn that is due is the turn of the prepared. If a competent Muslim emerges, the group will support him or her. If a competent Christian emerges, the group will support him or her. The Kaaba is not on the ballot. Competence is.
Data for the Public
A comparative table of state interventions in Muslim institutions, 1999–2026, is attached to this communique. It shows; Ladoja administration, 1 major mosque road; Akala administration, 2 pilgrim welfare interventions; Ajimobi administration, 3 Eid ground supports; Makinde administration, 11 structural interventions and 4 legal/policy instruments. Facts are stubborn. Identity is fluid.
The Test for Any Successor
PMPGG proposes a three-question test for every aspirant, regardless of religion; 1. Show us your plan to increase Oyo’s IGR without taxing the poor. 2. Show us your plan to cut the insecurity response time in Oke-Ogun to under 20 minutes. 3. Show us your last five years of service to any community without holding office. If an aspirant fails these, his religion cannot pass them for him.
To Governor Makinde
The group commends the governor for running a government blind to creed but not to justice. We urge him to ensure that his succession process is equally blind. Let the process be open, let delegates be free, and let the best document win. That is how legacies endure.
To the General Public
Do not be deceived. The politician who shouts “Muslim ticket” today will shout “my pocket” tomorrow. Your child’s school fees are not paid for religion. Your hospital bills are not reduced by sermons. Vote for the one who has done it before he asks, not the one who asks before he does it.
Our Prayer for Oyo State
May Allah, the Lord of all mankind, grant Oyo State a successor who will fear Him in public and in private; who will see every citizen as Amanah, a trust; who will complete the good works of this administration and start new ones with justice. May He protect our state from the fitnah of division, and may He guide our delegates to choose with their conscience, not their conditions.
Final Word to Religious Merchants
PMPGG will not keep silent while the name of Islam is used to market incompetence. The Prophet Muhammad, SAW, said, “He is not one of us who calls to tribalism.” In modern terms, he is not one of us who calls to religious tokenism. Oyo is too educated, too mixed, and too wise to be fooled again.
Signed:
Alh. Abdul-Ganiyy Olanrewaju Adeleke
Chairman, Pacesetter Muslim Professionals for Good Governance, PMPGG
Dr. Ismail Opeyemi Aderibigbe
Secretary, Pacesetter Muslim Professionals for Good Governance, PMPGG
...To get all news updates, Join our WhatsApp Group (Click Here)
Connect with us on Linkedin (Click Here)
