2023: Tinubu’s campaign DG, Shittu justifies Muslim-Muslim ticket, says 65% of Yorubas in South West are Muslims

A former Minister of Communications and Director-General of Asiwaju Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation, Adebayo Shittu, the , has claimed that Muslims make up 65% of the southwestern part of Nigeria.

Shittu who made this assertion in an interview on AIT, during the Focus Nigeria show, on Tuesday, was justifying the decision of Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate to pick a fellow Muslim, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.

Recall that Tinubu’s decision to name Shettima, a fellow Muslim from the Northeast as his running mate has continued to generate condemnations, especially within the Christian community in the country.

But justifying his principal’s choice, Shittu, a former minister of communications, maintained that southwestern Nigerians were predominantly Muslims.

“In the Southwest of Nigeria, the Muslims constitute an average of 65%,” of the population, the lawyer asserted.

When asked if his claim was based on fact or projection, he said, “I don’t tell lies. You can investigate. Do your research.”

He added, “It is on the basis of religion that people are making noise about the so-called Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“In Ekiti, it is Christian-Christian ticket. In Ondo, it is Christian-Christian ticket. In Edo, where the Northern part of the state is largely Muslim, it is Christian-Christian ticket. Nobody is making noise about this.”

Also speaking on the APC’s loss in the Osun State governorship poll, Shittu noted that the defeat of the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, was a very big disappointment.

The former Minister of Communications said, “The Osun incident was a very big disappointment. But for some of us, it was not too surprising and I regret to say this.

“A lot of factors must have contributed to what happened.”