Joseph Hayab says religious leaders should moderate their language as debate over Nigeria’s 2027 presidential ticket intensifies

The Christian Association of Nigeria chairman in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, Joseph Hayab, on Monday called for restraint in political and religious discourse after controversial remarks attributed to Islamic cleric Sheikh Yahya Jingir over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket debate.

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Hayab made the appeal while appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he responded to a video circulating on social media in which Jingir reportedly told Nigerians opposed to a Muslim-Muslim ticket to leave the country and asserted that Nigeria belonged to Muslims.

The CAN leader said political disagreements were legitimate in a democracy but warned that religious leaders and other public figures should avoid language capable of turning political differences into religious confrontation.

“We have always been tolerant of this, and I want to take us back. We have had the worst of these statements. But we have to be moderate. We have to be careful when we come to public space,” Hayab said.

He argued that Jingir could have advocated for Muslim candidates without using language that Christians could perceive as derogatory.

“Honestly speaking, if Jingir had said, ‘look, let’s vote for our Muslim brothers to show we are strong’, it wouldn’t have been offensive than adding the term ‘infidel’,” Hayab said.

According to him, the controversy became more serious when the cleric allegedly moved beyond political advocacy and used language that could be interpreted as insulting people of another faith.

“The moment he went out of just campaigning and insulting, then it turns the story different,” he added.

Hayab acknowledged that Christians had faced provocative comments on religious and political issues in the past, but said such experiences should encourage moderation rather than retaliation.

“But we are saying this as Christians that we’ve had this for a long time, we’ve suffered this for a long time, we are familiar with this for a long time,” he said.

The comments come as political parties and influential figures increasingly position themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the religious composition of presidential tickets emerging as a particularly sensitive issue.

President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima contested the 2023 presidential election on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, a decision that generated significant debate among religious and political groups.

The possibility of retaining the arrangement in 2027 has continued to attract competing arguments.

Supporters have framed the issue around political competence and electoral considerations, while critics have raised concerns about religious representation and national inclusion.

Recent comments attributed to Jingir have intensified that discussion.

The cleric has previously expressed support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket. Earlier this year, he publicly reaffirmed his backing for the President and Vice-President, arguing in favour of continued support for the administration.

Hayab did not argue that religious leaders should be prevented from participating in political debate.

Instead, he urged influential figures to recognise the impact their words can have in a country where religious identity remains closely intertwined with community relations and political mobilisation.

He stressed the need for conversations in which people are willing to hear opposing perspectives without resorting to insults or language that could deepen mistrust.

The CAN leader’s intervention also reflects the association’s broader concern about maintaining peaceful relations between Nigeria’s Christian and Muslim communities as political activity gathers pace.

For Hayab, disagreement over who should govern Nigeria is a normal feature of democratic politics. The danger, he suggested, lies in allowing political competition to become framed as a struggle between religious communities.

His appeal for moderation therefore comes at a delicate moment, with the 2027 election still ahead but political alliances, presidential ambitions and debates over the country’s religious balance already taking shape.

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The challenge for religious and political leaders will be to defend their preferred candidates and policies without turning differences over electoral choices into a source of religious hostility.