Primate Elijah Ayodele, leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his failure to publicly address controversial remarks attributed to Islamic cleric Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir.

Ayodele called for Jingir to be arrested and prosecuted, warning that inflammatory religious statements could undermine peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Jingir reportedly said in a video circulating on social media that Nigerians who were unwilling to accept a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket should leave the country, arguing that Nigeria belonged to Muslims. He also reportedly referred to Christians as “infidels.”

Reacting to the remarks in a video posted on social media, Ayodele expressed concern that statements of such nature could place Christians at risk if they were not condemned by the authorities.

He accused the Tinubu administration of applying different standards when controversial comments are made by Christian religious leaders.

“If the government does not caution this, then Christianity is in trouble in Nigeria. This senseless old fool, Islamic cleric Jingir, should be in jail by now.”

Ayodele added that authorities would have acted swiftly if a Christian leader had made a similar statement.

“If a Christian had made such a statement, they would have picked him up immediately,” he said.

The cleric urged the Federal Government to caution Jingir and other religious leaders against making inflammatory statements capable of heightening religious tensions.

Ayodele warned that failure to address such rhetoric could further threaten national unity, peaceful coexistence and stability in the country.