By Emem Idio, Yenagoa 

The Muslims Community in Bayelsa State also known as Bayelsa State Council for Islamic Affairs has described as “unpatriotic, insincere, and a defamation of the government of Bayelsa state and disgrace to the Muslim Ummah in Bayelsa,” a publication credited to the immediate past Chairman, Alhaji Yakubu Otobo.

Otobo, had claimed that the Bayelsa State government is imposing leaders on the Muslim Community in the state in his Sallah’s message on 20th of March 2026.

The leaders and stakeholders of the Muslim Community in a statement over the weekend in Yenagoa while reacting, denied any government interference in Muslims affairs in the state.

To put the records straight, they noted that it was the Muslim Ummah at a General Assembly meeting held on 25th, January, 2026 in an attempt to resolve all the crises that prove abortive, unanimously agreed to set aside all the warring parties and appoints an interim government to oversea the affairs of the council pending the determination of a suit in the state high court, Yenagoa in order to avoid unnecessary unrest among the Muslim Ummah over tenure elongation.

The Muslim leaders noted that the people stoking controversy among the Muslims in Bayelsa State are past leaders who are still trying to come to term with their tenure elongation after their failed efforts to perpetrate themselves in power after their expiration of their five years tenure mandate as enshrined in the state Bye-law, adding that any one insinuating that the Bayelsa state government is imposing leaders on Muslim community is a figment of their own imagination.

The statement was signed by Alh. Idris makeni Obi, Chairman Indigenous Muslim Welfare Association (BIMWA), the Chairman League of Imams, Imam Abdulganniyu Yunus, Chief Imam of the state, Imam Ibrahim Bilyaminu, Chairman Interim Government, Bayelsa State Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (SCIA) Alhaji Yahaya Okee , Secretary Interim Government Bayelsa State Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Bayelsa Hon Abdulaziz Obi, Chairman Arewa Community in Bayelsa State, Alhaji Alasan Mu’azu, and former Chairmen of Bayelsa Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Chief Hon. Kasim Oru, and Chairperson Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN)

The stakeholders recalled that the executives of the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs led by Alhaji Yakubu Otobo were formally suspended on January 25, 2026, following the tenure elongation crises.

They noted that the meeting which was attended by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious Matters, Rev Godspower Asingba, also witnessed the inauguration of an interim government for the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Bayelsa State for the initial period of 3 months pending the outcome of the court.

Meanwhile, the Muslim leaders and stakeholders in Bayelsa State has urged security agencies in the state to call on the immediate past Chairman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Bayelsa State chapter, Alhaji Yahaya Otobo to order and hold him responsible and accountable for any breach of the peace in the Muslim Community in the state.

They appreciated the Governor and Government of Bayelsa state, for his unmeasurable support, inclusion and all encompassing cure and support for Muslim during All islamic events in the state through Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious Matters Rev Godspower Asingba.