By Mahmoud Muhammad Kano
A faith-based civil liberties organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has engaged former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, over the place of Muslims in governance.
Mr Atiku, who is also a leading figure in the African Democratic Congress, ADC, was asked to clarify how his government would address what the group described as long-standing structural disadvantages against Muslims in Nigeria.
MURIC said Nigeria, since the colonial era, has been largely structured along Christian cultural lines, a situation it claimed has resulted in the denial of several civil rights to Muslims by successive administrations.
The organisation further argued that many Muslim politicians and leaders are either unaware of these challenges or are easily pressured into silence through blackmail and harassment.
It therefore queried whether Mr Atiku, as a Muslim, would be willing to confront the issues “clinically and objectively” if elected president.
The engagement was conveyed in an open letter dated Thursday, January 8, 2026, and signed by the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The letter read: “Your Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, As-Salaam Alaikunm sir,
“We of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) celebrate you as the most resilient and highly consistent politician in Nigeria today. You have fought for a cause in which you strongly believe and have exhibited immense strength of character in its pursuit over the years. Your efforts are monumental, laudable and cerebral. Whether your critics like it or not, your name will be written in letters of gold in the annals of Nigerian history.
“As a Muslim steering his political ship towards the 2027 coast, we find it mandatory to engage you in dialogue concerning the current plight of Nigerian Muslims and their hopes and aspirations in a just, united and democratic Nigeria. The major reason for taking this step is our discovery that the condition of Muslims has remained the same under both Muslim and Christian leaders despite demands and agitations.
“We note with great pain that many Muslim politicians and leaders are either unaware of this predicament or they are easily pressured through blackmail and harassment by those who seek to keep Muslims in neocolonial administrative and economic bondage.
“Nigeria since the colonial days had been structured along Christian culture. Several Allah-given civil liberties are denied Muslims as Christian colonial heritage is hypothetically accepted as the norm. Sadly, however, successive Nigerian governments, including those led by Muslims, have also ignored the demands of Muslims.
“We do not want Your Excellency to fall into this category because you have always been a friend of MURIC. We strongly believe that even the past and present Muslim leaders who ignored the plights of Muslims are not to blame because they are products of an anti-Muslim system structured after Christian values in all aspects of life.
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