ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria‘s Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, dismissed claims of a planned Islamisation of the country during a religious council meeting on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
Speaking at the First Triennial Meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Okay News reports that Abubakar affirmed Muslims have no agenda to dismantle the Christian population.
The monarch stated he has never missed a meeting in his 20 years on the council. “We believe talking is better than fighting. Let us understand our differences rather than trying to forget them; I am a Muslim, you are a Christian, and we must live together with respect,” he said.
He warned against clerics who lack deep theological knowledge and the weaponisation of faith for political gains, noting that fluency in Arabic does not make one an Islamic scholar. Abubakar stated that bandits and terrorists should be called by their names rather than linked to Islam, adding that more Muslims have been killed by terrorism across the North.
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Sultan called for increased trust between faith leaders and their followers. “Even if the government is not funding us, we will find ways to continue our meetings,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for its support of the council. Abubakar referenced recent interfaith engagements in London involving the Archbishop of Canterbury and Islamic scholars aimed at finding solutions to national challenges.
