Former Minister of Aviation and Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has called on the Sultan of Sokoto and President Bola Tinubu to publicly rein in Islamic cleric Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir over remarks he made concerning Christians and Christianity, warning that continued silence could have serious consequences for national unity.
Fani-Kayode made the call in a lengthy statement titled “The Gospel According to Sheikh Jingir,” in which he expressed concern over the potential consequences of what he described as inflammatory religious rhetoric. He said he was particularly disturbed by Jingir’s reported declaration that he had “no regrets” over statements he had made at a recent public event.
“I call on His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto and the President of our beloved country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to publicly caution him before it is too late,” Fani-Kayode said. He argued the matter should not be viewed through the lens of party politics, stressing that preserving peace and national unity should take precedence: “This is not about politics or party: it is about humanity and the preservation of the peace and unity of our beloved country.”
He added that religious leaders and political actors carried a responsibility to prevent statements capable of provoking conflict, and said Nigerians already grappling with economic and security challenges should not be subjected to further division. Fani-Kayode said the remarks had drawn strong reactions from both Christians and Muslims, adding that he had spoken with several Northern Muslim governors and a prominent Muslim cleric who he said shared similar concerns.
The controversy centres on comments Jingir made at an event in Kano attended by APC governors, including Kano State’s Abba Yusuf and Jigawa State’s Umar Namadi, where the cleric praised President Tinubu for adopting the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in 2023 and declared himself a strong supporter of the arrangement, thanking Tinubu as his “political hero” for the move. Jingir also reportedly claimed that Muslims outnumber Christians in Nigeria, a claim that went viral online.
Fani-Kayode’s intervention builds on a series of earlier public rebukes. Reacting on X, he initially described the rhetoric as “highly provocative,” writing that while he respected Jingir, the cleric’s comments were “extremist,” “most unhelpful” and untrue, and warned it was “a very slippery and dangerous slope.” He maintained that Nigeria was neither a Muslim nor a Christian country, but a secular, multi-religious nation.
In a further statement, Fani-Kayode called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to invite and caution Jingir “before he sets the country ablaze,” insisting that “Christians are NOT infidels; we are believers,” and that Jingir did not represent the views of the majority of Nigerian Muslims but only “a tiny minority of extremists.”
He also criticised the Kano State governor for what he described as openly cheering Jingir’s comments, saying: “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.”
Fani-Kayode has separately argued that Jingir’s comments could damage Tinubu’s re-election prospects in 2027, saying the remarks risk alienating Christian voters and handing the opposition a ready-made campaign issue. “You do not talk like that in a country with over 120 million Christians. This is especially so when we are already being falsely accused of Christian genocide and of harbouring an agenda to Islamise the country,” he said, referencing existing international allegations about religious persecution in Nigeria.
He went further, suggesting Jingir may be inadvertently undermining the government he claims to support: “Jingir has done immense damage to President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima by talking in this way and I suspect that he is secretly working against them.” Fani-Kayode noted that several Muslims across party lines had also condemned Jingir’s remarks, and argued that winning in 2027 would require support from both Muslim and Christian voters.
Fani-Kayode’s comments add to a growing chorus of criticism directed at Jingir from religious and civil society figures, including Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Prophet Isa El-Buba, and the National Human Rights Commission, which has called for Jingir’s arrest and prosecution over the remarks.
As of this report, neither the Sultan of Sokoto’s office nor the Presidency has issued a public response to Fani-Kayode’s appeal, and Sheikh Jingir has not withdrawn or apologised for his comments.
