The recent declaration by the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria—calling for the removal of the current Chairman, Prof. Joash Amuputan of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and threatening non-recognition of any election conducted under him—does not merely challenge a public official. It challenges the most sensitive aspect of Nigeria’s democracy. Without elections, there is no democracy!
In his 2020 legal brief, “Genocide in Nigeria-The implication for the International Community”, Prof. Joash Amuputan claimed that Christians in Nigeria are facing genocide, citing violence by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen. The SCSN declaration has introduced the most extreme case of political Islam, in which, after all due diligence is applied and candidates are voted on by the Senate and approved by the president, a final religious veto can be wielded. A veto so consequential that it could lead to national disintegration. Non-recognition of any election by the Muslim Ummah would mean a global contestation of political power between Islamic and non-Islamic countries. This would inevitably lead to violence, chaos, and the destruction of Nigeria’s fragile democracy.
Let us be clear: in a democracy, disagreement is not a threat. Protest is not a sin. Criticism of public officials is not only permitted but necessary. Nigeria’s democracy is young, imperfect, and often bruised by its own contradictions. Yet it remains one of the few shared spaces where citizens of different tongues, creeds, and histories meet as equals. Nigerian Christians and Muslims have managed this complexity through healthy competition and political power-sharing. Even when traditional power-sharing agreements are flouted and Muslim-Muslim presidential tickets emerge, Christian politicians still vote massively for such candidates. In the past, when candidates for ministerial appointment were alleged to be tainted by Islamic extremism, such as Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who was alleged to have expressed support for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, he was still appointed to one of the most sensitive cabinet positions in the Nigerian government. This was not a weakness. It was the ability to manage diversity with sensitivity.
Throughout the histories of FEDECO, NEC, and INEC, the Chairmen have always been professors and jurists, mostly from the South-South and Eastern Zones. The roll call: Justice Victor Ovie-Whisky, 1980-1983; Prof. Eme Awa, 1987-1989; Sumner Dagogo-Jack, 1994-1998; Justice Ephraim Akpata, 1998-2000; Dr Abel Goubadia, 2000-2005; and Prof. Maurice Iwu, 2005-2010. In 2010, with a South-South President, Goodluck Jonathan, the Chairmanship moved to the Northern Zones for the first time. Professor Attahiru Jega served two terms, 2010-2015, and then the Chairmanship moved to the North-East: Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu served two more terms, 2015-2025. These northern intellectuals were Muslims. Now, with the North Central Zone having a Chairman of INEC from Kogi State, a Christian, Prof. Joash Amuputan, the loud dissent from the Sharia Council is framed in the vocabulary of faith as a collective command to delegitimise future elections! This dissent, coming after the political due process is complete, appears to lose sight of our geopolitical sensitivity and the professor’s rights as a scholar and a legal luminary (Senior Advocate of Nigeria) to hold personal views and to represent clients in briefs. This dissent has moved from the realm of healthy civic engagement into the perilous territory of moral coercion and absolutism. This is not democracy; it is theocracy and the weaponisation of religion. It is Political Islam.
The politicisation and weaponisation of religion in the world today are rolling back democracy and giving rise to absolutism and dictatorship. Christian and Muslim countries are equally guilty. In the USA, for instance, the rise of Christian nationalism has been linked to the suppression of voter and minority rights and to challenges to secular governance. In Poland, the Law and Justice party, in alliance with Catholic conservative groups, is suppressing minority rights, the media, and free speech. In Hungary, the ruling Fidesz party has influenced the policies of Christian conservative groups on immigration and free speech.
Political Islam has enabled the formation of theocratic dictatorships, the suppression of dissent, and restrictions on freedoms and women’s rights, as evident in Iran since the 1979 revolution. In Pakistan, we see the rise of political Islam, which restricts free speech through blasphemy laws and promotes sectarian violence. In Turkey, President Erdogan’s political Islam has affected secularism and press and judicial freedoms. Nigeria does not need to follow these examples. We need not take this highway to national disintegration. We are a unique and delicate democracy, trying to weave a rich democratic tapestry from our rich diversity.
Leadership
