With five days to the August 15 Osun State governorship election, Muslim scholars and imams across the state have endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Oyebamiji, for the poll.
The endorsement was made at the country home of the Asiwaju Musulumi of the South-West, Edo and Delta States, in Osogbo, where representatives of various Muslim groups gathered to declare their support for the APC candidate.
The groups included the United Imams and Alfas, Qodriyah Islamic Society, Progressive Muslim Teachers, Zumuratu-l-Mumineen, Imam Ratibi, Isale-Osun Zone and Alasaro Osogbo, among others.
The groups said their decision was based on Oyebamiji’s competence, capacity to deliver good governance and his contributions to the Muslim community, in addition to their support for President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the gathering, Chief Tunde Badmus said the groups had resolved to unite behind the APC candidate in the election.
“As you can see, there are different Muslim groups here. As their leader, I had to communicate President Bola Tinubu’s position to them on the Osun election, and they are all here to endorse Tinubu’s candidate for the August 15 governorship election,” he said.
Badmus also disclosed that more than 500 persons with hearing impairment attended the event and displayed their Permanent Voter Cards as evidence of their decision to support Oyebamiji.
“They came with their voter cards to show that they have decided to go for Oyebamiji in this governorship election and that they are not ready to sell their voter cards,” he said.
Representatives of the Muslim groups, including AbdulGaniy Olaoye of Zumuratul Muhmineenah and Alfa Kamaldeen of Qodriyah Islamic Society, also declared their support for the APC candidate.
Olaoye said the groups were supporting Oyebamiji because of his commitment to Islam and his previous contributions to the Muslim community.
“We follow someone who is dedicated to Islam, and he has been doing many things to support Islam in the past. That is why we are here, and we are rest assured that Munirudeen Oyebamiji will be victorious in the coming election,” he said.
The groups pledged to mobilise voters across their respective communities to support the APC candidate on August 15.
