According to a report by The Sun on Saturday, April 25, 2026, former President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Dr Jonathan Asake, responded to questions concerning renewed calls from the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and other northern groups demanding the removal of the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, over his earlier remarks relating to alleged Christian genocide.
He was asked to give his position on the development and the reasons being advanced by those calling for the chairman’s removal, particularly in relation to his past statements and how they are being interpreted within the current political climate in the country.
In his response, he placed the issue within a broader political context, pointing to long-standing arrangements and expectations that have shaped political alignments and debates around governance structures in Nigeria over time.
He further explained that within these arrangements, the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket has been interpreted differently by various interests, with some viewing it as a strategic political alignment that carries deeper implications beyond electoral competition.
He added that some political actors believed that with President Bola Tinubu emerging as a Muslim from the southern region and Vice President Kashim Shettima as a Muslim from the northern region, certain expectations tied to that arrangement would naturally follow as part of a broader understanding of power sharing and political direction.
He noted that these expectations, in some interpretations, were connected to assumptions about the trajectory of governance in Nigeria, including beliefs about possible shifts in the ideological or structural framework of the state based on the leadership composition that emerged after the elections.
He also indicated that such perspectives extended to projections about a new phase of governance in the country, shaped by differing expectations and interpretations of what the political arrangement could eventually lead to.
He said, “But, in their own arrangement and agenda, while they call for the Muslim Muslim ticket, they thought that when Tinubu comes on board, as a Muslim from the south with Shettima as a Muslim from the north, then the entire agenda would be achieved and Nigeria would now become a Sharia state, and after that, we can now find ourselves in a new phase of governance in Nigeria.”