The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) has dissociated itself from the statement made by Muftau Zakariya, IMN South West Coordinator, that the region should vote out President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general election
South West Coordinator of the group, Muftau Zakariya, led members of the group on a protest in Abuja on Wednesday, during which he called on Nigerians from the South West to vote out the President in the 2019 elections.
The group said the statement by Zakariya does not represent the aims and objectives of the organisation, noting that voting or not voting Buhari in 2019 is not their business, as the movement will never dabble into political affairs.
The position was made known by a representative of the sect, Engr. Abdullahi Muhammadu Musa, when he addressed members of the sect at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday in Abuja, during a peaceful protest to remind the commission of the petition against the killing of a student during the Ashura procession in Potiskum in Yobe State.
His words: “The world is watching the injustice perpetrated by the Nigerian authority, and at the same time we are trying to let them know that Islamic Movement has no concern with any issue of voting or not voting for Buhari. It is not an issue to us.
“The Nigeria system is corrupt and the problem of Nigeria is not who is ruling; the problem is what is ruling the nation. All we know is that this system is corrupt; this is a system of injustice; this is a system of tyranny and oppression and we are going to do away with this system.
“Everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but we don’t have issue with voting or not voting for Buhari. All we know is that this system is corrupt and Buhari is not on his own. It is an imperialist, and they give him order to do what he does.”
He accused the President of doing the bidding of the “foreign powers”, adding that foreign powers are behind the incarceration of their spiritual leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky since 2015.
Musa said the movement would not relent in its quest to fight against injustice and oppression being perpetrated by those in the positions of authority.
He said: “If the authority have guns, grenades, bombs, Police and soldiers, we have chests to receive the bullets for our religion and leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky. So, we are ready to receive the bullets. They should come and kill us; the world is watching.”
