500 northern clerics never endorsed Tinubu’s re-election, Islamic leader declares

A prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abdurrahman Azzamfari, has dismissed reports that 500 northern scholars endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term in 2027, describing the claim as false and misleading.

The denial comes days after the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, while reading a communique at the end of a ‘Muslim Intellectual Forum’ meeting in Dutse, Jigawa State, said over 500 clerics from the 19 northern states and FCT had passed a vote of confidence on Tinubu.

In a viral video message posted on Monday, Sheikh Azzamfari said the endorsement was never discussed or agreed to at the meeting.

“The talk that 500 scholars at the meeting agreed to endorse and re-elect Tinubu is not true. That was not discussed with us at all,” he said.

The cleric, who said he attended three of the five meetings held by the forum since April, alleged that participants were manipulated.

According to him, scholars were kept waiting for hours before governors spoke, after which journalists were briefly sent out and later recalled to hear the endorsement announcement.

“After the governors spoke, journalists were sent out. Later they were called back and told that we endorsed Tinubu’s re-election,” he said.

He lamented that only one scholar from Kano was allowed to speak for two minutes out of over 500 present.

Sheikh Azzamfari said the forum was initially presented as a non-political platform to support government and assist citizens facing hardship.

“They told us we were invited not for Politics, but to help the government distribute support to the people as those close to them,” he said.

The cleric also faulted the conduct of previous meetings, including one in Kaduna where rice and money were distributed amid loud music. He said scholars’ advice was ignored.

He denied reports that any money exchanged hands and insisted that any genuine agreement with government must be put in writing.

“If they want us to support Tinubu, let them hear our views and suggestions, and let us see them carried out in truth,” he stated, adding “Any agreement should be in writing and given to us as evidence before we can publicly back him.”

Sheikh Azzamfari accused some northern politicians of using religious leaders as “hunting dogs” who are called only to catch but excluded when sharing the catch.

“They don’t respect the Supreme Islamic Council. They think any scholar they bring can be used to do anything. That is not how it works,” he said.

The cleric clarified that he was neither for nor against Tinubu, but stood only for truth and fairness.

“I am not with oppression and I am not with lies. Whenever I am invited to something good, I will go. If it is good, we support it. If not, I will not do it,” he said.

The Jigawa meeting was the fifth in the series. Previous ones were held in Kaduna and Abuja. Organisers said 12 scholars were selected from each northern state for the Dutse gathering.

Meanwhile, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the ruling party of abandoning its founding ideals.

Sylva, in a resignation letter dated August 31, 2026, said he could no longer remain in the party.

The letter, electronically delivered and addressed to the APC Chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, stated that the former governor, who described himself as a founding member of the APC, made the decision after wide consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers.

“Having consulted widely with my family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers, I wish to formally tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), with immediate effect,” Sylva said in the letter.

He recalled that, as a founding member of the APC, he had helped build the party.

The former minister, who is allegedly linked to a coup plot against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, also took a swipe at the APC leadership, alleging that its approach to Politics had eroded basic standards of decency and morality.

Sylva was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in November 2025 over an alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $ 14, 859, 14,859,257 of NCDMB funds for a refinery project at the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.

For a better society

Follow us across our platforms:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/championnewsonline/
Facebook – https://web.facebook.com/championnewsonline
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/champion-newspapers-limited/
https://x.com/championnewsng/

You can also like and comment on our YouTube videos.
https://youtu.be/QIBfD1tT80w?si=R4Qf3so2LxYu3GC2