By Tosin Olatokunbo
Governor Seyi Makinde received bipartisan votes from major religious bodies in the state last year when he was elected into the highest office in the Pacesetters’ state ahead Adebayo Adelabu, a Muslim and preferred candidate of Abiola Ajimobi, the incumbent governor at the time.
Both Ajimobi and Adelabu were Mulims who could not secure victory for the APC candidate because of the popularity of Makinde of the PDP across religious divides.
But just one year in office, the governor has been accused of partisanship when it comes to the sharing of political appointments in the state.
Some Muslims under the aegis of the National Council of Muslim Youths Organisation, NACOMYO, have therefore sworn to mobilize their people against the re-election of Governor Makinde in 2023.
What is Governor Makinde’s sin? According to the angry Muslim youths, the state’s helmsman failed to declare a public holiday in the state to celebrate the new hijrah calendar.
NACOMYO are also not happy that Makinde called for the arrest of Professor Ishaq Oloyede of MURIC after the latter alleged the Christianization of the state by the governor.
The Islamic group disclosed this on Thursday at a special prayer and lecture for the commencement of Hijrah 1442 in reaction to the failure of the governor to declare a public holiday in the state to celebrate the new Hijrah calendar, where its state Coordinator, Dawood Afolabi, during a lecture tagged ‘Political development in Oyo State and the Muslims,’ accused the governor of marginalising Muslims.
NACOMYO said “It is disheartening that despite the promise of fairness and justice by the administration and continued lip-service to same at functions, Muslims are still being treated with disdain in government appointments.
“The glaring marginalisation in the composition of state executive, appointment into boards of tertiary institutions and the jettisoning of merit in the choice of head of Saki Zonal TESCOM are clear signals that Muslims should not trust the current helmsman in Oyo State.”
The group urged Muslims in the state to ensure that Governor Makinde did not return to office.
They told Mslims to “ keep our gunpowder dry and prepare for the next election. The withdrawal of ‘first Muharram’ as work free day in the state is another indicator. We, however, put our trust in Allah for a better deal via change of hands in government by 2023.”
Meanwhile, some political and religious leaders, in response to the issue, told the magazine that NACOMYO is purely on its own, that its opinion does not represent that of the Muslim Umah in the state.
