Dr. Rexkennedy Saltlove, a well-known human rights activist and public affairs commentator, has shared his views on key national issues, during an interview with THE SUN.
Dr. Saltlove is the president and executive director of the Citizens Rights and Empowerment Advocacy Initiative (CREMA Initiative).
In a recent conversation, he discussed the future of Nigerian politics, especially as the country prepares for the 2027 general elections.
He warned that the elections might be strongly influenced by religious and regional tensions.
According to him, the current Muslim-Muslim ticket under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership has created deep divisions.
He said many Christians feel unsafe and targeted and mentioned that some reports show over 600,000 deaths from May 2023 to April 2024, although the government has not denied or confirmed these figures.
Dr. Saltlove noted that the North-South divide still carries religious tones.
The North is mostly Muslim, while the South is mostly Christian and warned that if the North tries to remove another Southern president, like what happened during the Goodluck Jonathan era, it could trigger strong reactions from the South.
In such a case, Southern Nigerians might unite behind President Tinubu, despite religious differences.
He explained that Nigerian politics is always changing and full of surprises.
Many factors, including religion and region, will likely affect the outcome of the 2027 elections.
“The truth is if a religious war does not happen under President Tinubu’s APC Muslim–Muslim ticket, it will be a miracle’. The politics of 2027 could be highly polarised and decided along religious lines or North-South divide.
The North-South divide angle is still religious tainted. The North is predominantly Muslim-domi-nated, while the South is mainly Christian dominated. If the North joins hands together to harass President, a Southerner, out of office as they did to Jonathan, the South may not take it as they will team up irrespective of religious differences with the president. Politics is dynamic. A lot of things, indices will, therefore, come to play,” he said.
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