‎2027 Primaries: MURIC congratulates Hamzat, others across parties

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has formally congratulated Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, following his victory in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election.

Dr. Hamzat emerged as the APC flagbearer for the upcoming 2027 Lagos State gubernatorial election.

He secured an overwhelming 657,917 votes to defeat his remaining opponent, Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal, who scored a single vote.

In a congratulatory message on Friday, the civil liberties organization felicitated with Hamzat and all successful primary candidates nationwide, irrespective of their political, religious, or ethnic background.

The official statement was signed by MURIC’s Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

It partly read: “MURIC heartily congratulates Dr. Kadir Obafemi Hamzat for this great feat. We look forward to its replication at the 2027 general elections.

‎“MURIC appreciates the endorsements of Dr. Hamzat by APC party leaders as well as the unreserved blessing of his candidature by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

‎“In the same vein, we felicitate with all candidates who won their primaries whether at governorship, senatorial or other levels. Your victories are fruits of your labour.

“Meanwhile we reaffirm our earlier position that there is no desertification of expertise in Islamdom. Highly skilled Muslims exist in all fields of human endeavour.

“Nigerian kingmakers and political godfathers should therefore stop looking for competent individuals who can be governors, lawmakers, ministers, commissioners, heads of agencies, etc among Christians alone.

“We are not allergic to Christians emerging candidates or presidents, governors, etc but monopoly of public offices by Christians under the excuse of searching for competence must be avoided.

‎“The emergence of Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat as the eminently qualified gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Lagos State after rigorous screening and a seamless and credible primary election, bears eloquent testimony to our position.

“More testimonies of the brilliance and high competence of Muslims abound in the excellent performance of Muslims in public office around the country.

“Professor Ishaq Oloyede has left an indelible mark on the sand of time in JAMB.

“In like manner, Professor Ibrahim Ali Isa Pantami laid a solid foundation at the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

“Their records will be difficult to break for a long time. It is noteworthy that both were, essentially, Islamic scholars, which adds more lustre to their laurels.”