Bauchi Mosque Removes Imam After Campaigning For Tinubu’s Re-Election

An imam, Dahiru Abubakar, has been removed from his position at a mosque in Madina Quarters, Bauchi metropolis, for allegedly campaigning for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election during religious activities.

Abubakar was said to have used his sermons after obligatory prayers to defend Tinubu’s administration and encourage worshippers to support the president’s bid for a second term in 2027.

He was reportedly suspended after repeating the act following the early morning Subhi prayer on Sunday.

“He would tell the congregation after prayer that Tinubu did not cause insecurity and he deserved to be reelected.

“A committee was set up after he did the same thing last weekend and he was subsequently removed,” a source said.

Speaking on the development, Abubakar told our correspondent that he had been urging worshippers not to blame President Tinubu for the country’s insecurity and economic hardship, which he attributed to an “end times phenomenon.”

He said, “I have been preaching to the people to stop castigating President Tinubu for the insecurity and economic challenges. They prepared to vote for him and give him another mandate in 2027 to continue his mandate.

“My preaching centred on telling people to embrace fear of God and stop blaming leaders for the insecurity, particularly President Tinubu, because only God’s intervention can stop the challenges with the power of prayers, and that didn’t go down well with the committee of the mosque.

“My preaching priorities are fear of God and our day-to-day activities. I cited examples of what is happening, especially insecurity in African countries like Sudan, Chad, Mali and others facing crisis. I asked whether President Tinubu was responsible for their insecurity.”

Confirming the incident, the chairman of the mosque committee, Imam Abubakar Jibrin, said the decision to remove Abubakar was informed by his repeated attempts to introduce partisan politics into the mosque’s activities.

Jibrin said the committee’s concerns extended beyond the imam’s support for Tinubu to his alleged gathering of people in front of the mosque and his use of the premises to discuss political matters.

He said, “Our major challenge with him was not only his campaign for Tinubu but the way and manner he gathered many people in front of the mosque and sometimes entered the mosque purposely to discuss politics.”

According to Jibrin, the committee had repeatedly cautioned Abubakar against using the mosque as a political platform, insisting that the place of worship should be reserved for religious activities.

He added, “The mosque committee sat down with him and cautioned him against turning the mosque into a political platform because of the Quranic verse which says the Mosque is solely for the worship of Allah alone. We vehemently rejected the use of the mosque for political meetings. We have warned him not once or twice, but many times, yet he hasn’t heeded our pleas.

“Even though we believe that politics is the process of producing leaders in the country, there are laid-down procedures, which are political parties, and the activities should take place in their political party offices and not in the mosque.”

Jibrin further disclosed that Abubakar had also insisted on changing the mosque’s name from Abdullahi Bin Zubbair Mosque to Masjid Imam Bola Ahmed Tinubu Mosque.

According to him, the proposal was rejected by members of the committee, who maintained that the mosque belonged to the community and its name should not be changed to reflect political affiliations.

He said, “All the committee members said ‘no’ because the mosque belongs to the community. This mosque has a committee of which I am one of the members, and when he insisted, we rejected the idea and resolved that the mosque name would remain Masjid Abdullahi Bin Zubbair.”

The committee chairman said Abubakar had been removed from his position and would not be reinstated.

“He should go and build his personal mosque, or politicians should go buy a mosque for him; that is not our business. Let me clarify that we, the members of the mosque committee, are not against any candidate from any political party. Our prayer is to Allah to choose the best for the country, be it President Tinubu or any candidate among the presidential candidates who would become a blessing to the country,” Jibrin added.