Muslims Move Against Sanwo-Olu, Launch Massive Protest In Lagos

Leaders of the Muslim Community in Lagos on Wednesday staged a protest to the State House of Assembly over the recent list of 39 commissioner-nominees released by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The Muslim community had earlier voiced out against the list which has eight Muslims and 31 Christians, saying the list is unfair to the Muslims in the state and demanded a review.

However, the state government had ignored the protest of the Muslims as the House of Assembly on Monday commenced the screening of the nominees.

On Wednesday, leaders of the Muslim Community led by the President and Elder statesman, Prof. Tajudeen Gbadamosi, stormed the House of Assembly to protest against what they called official discrimination of the Muslims in the state.

Heads of various Islamic organisations and scholars were also in attendance at the protest where Prof. Gbadamosi presented a petition to the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.

They were carrying banners and placards with inscriptions such as “Muslims say no to official discrimination,” “All we ask is fairness,” “Stop the Screening Now, we want Justice”, among others.

In the petition read by the President, the Muslims expressed “grievance and dissatisfaction against the blatant disregard for justice, equity and fairness in the proposed Lagos State’ Executive cabinet as contained in the list of commissioner-nominees.

According to the group, the list “is a classic case of discrimination and religious bigotry, as it has 31 nominees who are of the Christian faith and only eight (8) nominees who are Muslims.”

“This is not a new development, especially since Governor Sanwo-Olu assumed leadership of this State, as a matter of fact, it has been elevated to a level of official state policy to deny Muslims their deserved positions under the Sanwo-Olu administration.