The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has charged religious leaders to ensure that nobody escapes the law because of religious, family or personal connections, saying even those close to them must face justice if involved in corruption.
Sultan Abubakar made the call on Abuja, at the 2026 Second Council Meeting of (NIREC), with the theme “Shared Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria.”
He said religious leaders had a duty to support the fight against corruption and allow law-enforcement agencies to do their work without interference.
According to him, religious leaders must resist the temptation to protect offenders because they are pastors, imams, relatives or friends, insisting that corruption could not be justified by religious affiliation or good deeds performed with illicit wealth.
“Whoever is involved, even our brothers, our sisters, our fathers, our friends, those involved, should face the law,” he said.
The Sultan who is also the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), in a strongly worded tone warned religious leaders who might seek protection for alleged offenders.
He said, “Don’t tell me he is the pastor of ‘so so’ and ‘so so’ church, he is the chief monk of ‘so so’ and ‘so so’ National Mosque. We don’t want to hear that. Let the EFCC Chairman go after that person, whoever it is, and deal with him according to the law.”
He also rejected the idea that corrupt money could be cleansed by using it for religious purposes.
“You cannot steal money and then send people to Jerusalem and Mecca with corrupt money, and then you think God will accept your deeds. No,” he said.
The Sultan urged Christians and Muslims to move beyond merely tolerating one another, arguing that genuine understanding was necessary for meaningful cooperation.
“But if you understand me, you can work with me, I can work with you, because we know who we are to each other,” he said.
He also commended the outgoing NIREC Secretary, Professor Cornelius Omonokhua, for his eight years of service, particularly his introduction of public webinars, which he said had opened a platform for Nigerians to engage the council.
The Sultan urged Omonokhua to remain available as a resource person, saying his contribution to NIREC was indelible.
He said religious leaders should not make inflammatory comments about candidates or political office holders during the electioneering period.
“We’re in to campaign for 2027 elections. So our religious leaders must be wary of what they say at the churches or mosques or any religious gathering,” the Sultan said.
On political leadership, he urged religious leaders to encourage Nigerians to pray for the President, governors and members of the National Assembly, regardless of their personal assessment of the leaders.
“No matter how bad you think they are, continue to pray. That prayer will make God touch their lives and then they will change,” he said.
Also speaking on the theme, “Shared Sacred Flourishing in Nigeria,’ CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, said interfaith relations must move beyond managing religious differences to practical cooperation for the common good.
Archbishop Okoh said Christians and Muslims could work together in peacebuilding, education, youth development, humanitarian assistance, poverty reduction, ethical leadership, environmental responsibility and the protection of vulnerable people.
He said the suffering of Nigerians should concern both faith communities regardless of religious affiliation.
Okoh also stressed the need for religious leaders to affirm the sanctity of human life, saying the suffering of a Christian should concern a Muslim and vice versa.
“When any Nigerian is killed, displaced, kidnapped, or deprived of dignity, our common humanity demands that we care,” he said.
Earlier, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, conveyed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appreciation to NIREC for its commitment to peace, harmony and stability, while urging religious and traditional leaders to help counter forces capable of deepening religious and ethnic divisions.
Akume said government was intensifying operations against banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes and terrorism, while strengthening intelligence gathering, rapid response and protection of soft targets, including churches, mosques, schools and markets.
He also urged religious leaders to keep politics away from places of worship during electioneering, saying NIREC would convene state-level forums before the end of 2026 with police commands, INEC officials and religious representatives to identify potential flashpoints.
On his part, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, said corruption was not only a legal problem but a moral challenge because its consequences extend to hospitals, schools, roads, pensions and opportunities for ordinary Nigerians.
Olukoyede said the EFCC had developed an Inter-Faith Manual to help pastors and imams teach anti-corruption messages to their followers, stressing that financial crime had no religion or tribe.
He challenged religious communities to examine the values they promote, particularly where unexplained wealth attracts honour without sufficient concern for its source.
“No faith community should provide moral shelter for corruption simply because the alleged offender belongs to that community,” Olukoyede said.
In an overview of the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Manuals Project, the Chairman of the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee (IAAC), Prof. Adedibu Ojerinde, described the manuals as a joint strategic initiative between the EFCC and Nigeria’s religious leadership to address the nation’s moral crisis.
Ojerinde said the project, the 2007 National Interfaith Forum on Corruption outcome, aims to mobilise the pulpit and minbar to transform public morality through dedicated preaching manuals anchored in biblical and Qur’anic texts.
He said the manuals originally inaugurated in 2014 and re-inaugurated January 2024 by President Bola Tinubu, were expanded to address contemporary challenges, including youth, cybercrime and money laundering vulnerabilities within religious institutions.
Ojerinde said that the formal handover of the manuals to NIREC marked a shift from publication to practical execution.
Also, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede presented an anti-corruption manual developed through collaboration between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and religious leaders.
Oloyede said the initiative was designed to tackle corruption not only through law enforcement but through moral and value reorientation.
He traced the initiative to the National Interfaith Forum on corruption in August 2007, after which the EFCC constituted an Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee comprising scholars, theologians and clerics.
The first manual was launched in December 2014 and provided sermon outlines, teaching guides and scriptural commentaries for use in churches, mosques, Sunday schools, madrasahs and other educational settings.
He said the revised edition, launched in January 2024, expanded its focus to emerging threats, including youth cybercrime, money laundering, illicit financial flows and vulnerabilities within religious institutions.
He said the manual was intended to shift the anti-corruption campaign from merely arresting and prosecuting offenders to preventing corruption through character formation in homes, schools and places of worship.
He urged religious leaders to incorporate anti-corruption messages into sermons, Friday khutbahs, youth programmes, seminaries, Bible colleges and madrasahs.
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