The Executive Chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State and House of Representatives candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) Engr. Akeem Olatunji, has warned against deploying religion and other sensitive identities as tools of political mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Olatunji said Nigerians, irrespective of their religious, ethnic or political affiliations, must resist attempts by desperate politicians to exploit existing sentiments and create divisions for political and electoral gains.
The council boss gave the warning while speaking on the need for peaceful coexistence and responsible political engagement ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said the strength of Nigeria lies in its diversity, stressing that the country’s religious and ethnic differences should be regarded as assets rather than instruments for political manipulation.
This was as he warned that whoever allows him or herself as a political tool to destabilize the relative, unity and peaceful coexistence among all the three major religions in Oluyole local government will be held responsible for any untoward outcome of such venture.
According to him, political contests should be centred on leadership, ideas, competence, character, development records and credible programmes capable of improving the lives of citizens.
Olatunji maintained that politicians who resort to religious rhetoric to win political point were not only undermining democratic values but also threatening the peace and unity necessary for sustainable development.
He said: “As we approach 2027, we must be very careful about the kind of messages we put out to our people. We cannot allow politics of religion to truncate the unity and peaceful coexistence that bind us together as a people.
“We are all Nigerians before we are members of any political party or adherents of any religion. We must therefore refuse to allow politicians to use religion to set us against one another.
“Elections will come and go, but the relationships we have built as neighbours, friends, brothers and sisters will remain. We must not sacrifice our peace and unity on the altar of political ambition.
“And we urge anyone fanning embers of disunity to have a rethink by measuring the weight of their actions against its likely outcome. Divisive rhetoric only divide us further outside of political circle into family and friendship built over the years.
“Leadership requires being visionary and proactive. A good road constructed, schools, hospitals, and other social amenities provided by a good leader will not be limited to any particular religious adherents on account of who provided them.
“We’re better and stronger together in unity than divided along ethnicity and religion or other inconsequential matters that have no correlation with leadership and good governance, and together we can achieve more.”
The Oluyole council chairman also urged religious leaders, traditional rulers, political actors, community leaders and the media to play responsible roles in ensuring that political campaigns ahead of the 2027 elections did not degenerate into religious or ethnic confrontation.
He called on political parties and their candidates to sell their programmes and achievements to the electorate rather than attempting to win votes by stoking fears and prejudices.
Olatunji further urged young Nigerians to be wary of becoming instruments in the hands of politicians who may seek to exploit religious differences for electoral purposes.
He said the youth should demand accountability from political leaders and judge candidates based on their capacity to deliver good governance.
The council boss said the people of Oluyole had demonstrated that peaceful coexistence was possible despite differences in religion, ethnicity and political affiliation, urging residents to preserve the tradition.
He added that development could only thrive in an atmosphere of peace, stressing that no political victory was worth the destruction of communal harmony.
Olatunji therefore appealed to residents to reject hate speech, inflammatory comments, misinformation and other forms of divisive rhetoric as the 2027 political season gathers momentum.
He said politicians seeking elective offices should remember that their ultimate responsibility was to unite and serve the people, rather than deepen existing fault lines for political advantage.
He expressed confidence that Nigerians would demonstrate political maturity by choosing leaders on the basis of competence, integrity, experience and development-oriented policies.
