A religious group in Osun State, the Islamic Political Committee (IPC), has thrown its weight behind the governorship ambition of Senator Iyiola Omisore, describing the governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as “best suited to salvage the state from the present confusion and current misjudgements in governance.”

“We are by this statement announcing our resolve to canvass and mobilise for Senator Iyiola Omisore in the 2014 governorship race. We have members in twenty eight of the thirty local Governments with ongoing establishments of wards and neighbourhood committees across the State. We are acting because we are fed up with the bad names fake Islamists are given our religion in Osun state,” the interim Coordinator of IPC, Imam Sefiu Olorunlogbon Adurajuwon, said in a statement issued in Oshogbo, the state capital.

The group cited activities of governors of Oyo, Lagos and Ogun states as proving that “Muslims can govern well without discriminating against other religions and without plunging the state into avoidable conflicts and retrogressive policies which set the clocks of our state progress back by decades,” adding: “We want to put it on record that what is happening in Osun does not represent what we Muslims are.

“We have reviewed the situation in our state; we have consulted our senior clerics who cannot speak out publicly; we have seen the damage already done to the image of Islam and we have no hesitation to first apologise for what pseudo-Islamists are doing and second to declare our total support for Senator Omisore who has proven to have large heart to appreciate the complexity of our dear state.”

IPC in the statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express, claimed that its members are found in Tijanniya, Quadriya, Nasfat, Qareeb, Islaudeen, Ansarudeen and other Islamic groups. It plegded “to release an Islamic political manifesto which will spell out demands of Muslims in 2014 polls and which will be the minimum expectations of Muslims from Senator Omisore if and when he finally assume the governorship of the state.”

“We selected Prince Omisore due to his antecedents,his previous records in Inter-faith Dialogue,his genuine spirit of conciliation throughout years of tribulations and his capacity to work well with people of all faiths without losing his calmness and without disrupting peace due to lack of direction and misplaced priority,” the statement concluded.

Update news