The Presidency on Sunday dismissed as false a claim by an Islamic cleric, Sanusi Khalil, that about ₦500bn had been budgeted to mobilise religious and traditional leaders in northern Nigeria to support the return of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket ahead of the next general election.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, described the allegation as baseless, insisting that there was no such plan by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Whoever believes that can believe anything, including tales by moonlight,” Onanuga said in a text message on Sunday while reacting to the viral claim.
The rebuttal followed the circulation of a video on social media in which Khalil alleged that a massive fund had been earmarked to enlist
Muslim, Christian and traditional leaders in the North to back the re-election of the Tinubu administration, which came to power on a joint Muslim-Muslim ticket with Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
Speaking in Hausa during a public gathering, the cleric claimed that unnamed individuals approached him to participate in a mobilisation effort targeting Muslim clerics and traditional rulers across northern Nigeria.
According to him, the proposed project involved huge financial inducements aimed at persuading influential religious figures to canvass support for the continuation of the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
“They have budgeted ₦500bn to mobilise mallams and traditional rulers so they can campaign for them,” Khalil said in the viral video.
“They invited me to join the project but I rejected the offer and warned them never to bring such a proposal to me again.”
The cleric further alleged that the purported fund was specifically meant for Muslim leaders, claiming that a separate budget had also been set aside to mobilise Christian clerics for the same political objective.
“The ₦500bn is for Muslim leaders, while another budget is for Christian leaders,” he alleged.
Khalil also told his audience that he refused to participate in the scheme, stressing that he would not compromise his religious position for political purposes.
“I will not betray my brothers. I am not like other greedy Muslim leaders who collected money in the name of the Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he said.
However, the Presidency swiftly rejected the claims, insisting that the allegation lacked credibility.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by Tinubu and Shettima during the 2023 presidential election sparked intense debate across the country, particularly among religious and political groups.
Critics, including supporters of the Labour Party’s then-presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had argued that the decision undermined Nigeria’s religious balance by pairing two Muslim candidates on the same ticket.
Tinubu, a Muslim from the South-West, eventually won the election with Shettima, also a Muslim, from the North-East as his running mate.
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