A member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Shittu, has called on Muslims to support Muslim candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reject political parties that field Christian candidates for governor in the 2027 election.
Shittu, who represents Saki West State Constituency and is an APC member, made the comments in a video circulating on social media.
“Support all our Muslim candidates in APC. Any political party with a Christian guber candidate must not be voted for. If such a person is voted in, Islam would suffer,” Shittu said.
In another part of the video, the lawmaker reportedly said Muslims should not vote for any party that presents a Christian governorship candidate, adding that, in his view, Christians in government “punish us because we are Muslims.”
The comments come as political discussions intensify ahead of the 2027 Oyo State governorship election and amid calls from some Muslim groups for a Muslim to succeed Governor Seyi Makinde, a Christian who is serving his second term.
Makinde has previously said that religion should not determine his successor, stressing that competence and loyalty to Oyo State should guide the choice. He has also spoken about the longstanding coexistence of Muslims and Christians in the state.
