The emirs, it was gathered, have chosen to be neutral and back whoever is freely voted into office by the electorate.
In the same camp as the pro-Jonathan emir are other traditional rulers from the North central and North west, according to a source familiar with the development.
One source said: “The Emir has been telling his colleagues that Jonathan has been fair to the North and to avoid a dent in the North/South south relationship, the President should be allowed to have a second term in office.
“Some of these Emirs and royal fathers pointed to the volatility of Northern politics and opted to take the back seat to await the people’s choice. Remember how a special adviser was burnt to death in the Second Republic for querying the Emir of Kano.
“A few other Emirs have discovered that the lobbying Emir has some vested interests to protect and they have chosen to ignore him.
“So, these Emirs may not be able to reach any consensus on either Jonathan or Buhari.”
It was also gathered that division has crept into the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the Nigerian-Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over who to back between President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
NIREC has not been able to meet for almost a year owing to what a source described as “sheer politics.”
According to investigation some prominent NSCIA, NIREC and CAN members have taken a position on a presidential candidate but others yearning for change have disagreed.
Some however argued that these organizations should be neutral and rally round whoever wins the race.
It was gathered that some of these top leaders attributed their position to certain favours, perks and honour they stand to enjoy if their choice wins.
Findings revealed that the division in these top organizations has led to mutual suspicion among members and leaders.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “There are issues about Jonathan and Buhari among members in these organizations. The body language and comments of some of these leaders have shown the direction they are going.
“The situation degenerated to the extent that in a meeting of one of these organizations, a leader was advising members on why a candidate must not be supported.
“Some of us are however saying that we should not take sides at all in the overall interest of the country.
“Of what use will it be when you are holding a position of trust to ensure unity and stability of the country and you are taking a partisan position.
“The inherent danger is that you will lose focus. Whatever favours or opportunities anyone might have enjoyed in the past and present, it remains a private matter.
“Before you know it, whoever is elected will be looking at how to cripple these associations.”
Investigation confirmed that NIREC appears worse hit by petty politics because the Inter-Religious body has been unable to meet in the past one year.
Another source said: “Contrary to what the public is being fed with, NIREC had fixed a meeting for Gombe but one of our leaders said he was uncomfortable with the state because of Boko Haram insurgency. This was after Gombe State Government had bankrolled our meeting and even guaranteed our safety.
“Later we shifted the NIREC meeting to Abuja and Gombe State Government was still ready to assist us. But some people did not just want the session to hold because of politics.
“Yet, this is a body which ought to assist the nation to address ethno-religious crises nationwide.”
The Emir of Zauzau, Alh Shehu Idris had in March last year pleaded with President Goodluck Jonathan to resuscitate NIREC
He made the plea when Jonathan met with traditional rulers from Kaduna State shortly before attending the zonal unity rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said: “I want to make a passionate appeal to the government to resuscitate the Nigerian Inter-religious Council at the national level
“After this, there should be the establishment of branches of NIREC in all the 36 states of the Federation.”
Credit: www.thenationonlineng.net
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