The Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor, Taiwo Adisa has stated the reasons the Oyo State government did not declare a public holiday for Hijrah can 1442 AH, which signifies the beginning of the new year in the Islamic calendar.
Muslims leaders and organizations in the state had accused Makinde of reneging on his campaign promise that he would protect the rights of Muslims if he became the governor and that he would not cancel the Hijrah holiday declared by the immediate past administration.
According to Adisa, the claim that Governor Makinde has reneged on a campaign promise is false, noting that the position that Engr. Makinde as a governorship candidate promised not to cancel Hijrah holiday is not a statement of fact and that there is a difference between words from the candidate and those from his campaign handlers
According to him, “I was not in the state at that time, but I have interacted with the person that they quoted to have spoken on behalf of Engr. Seyi Makinde as candidate then, Prince Dotun Oyelade. His statement was a reference to another statement credited to the camp of the candidate of APC in the 2019, Bayo Adelabu in the build-up to the gubernatorial election. They issued a statement that Muslims should not vote for Seyi Makinde because according to them, Makinde as Governor would cancel public holiday for Hijrah.
“This prompted the Prince Dotun Oyelade who was Mankinde’s spokesperson then to refute that claim, stating that if elected, Engr. Makinde would not cancel any holiday that is properly gazetted.”
He said: “There are many issues surrounding the Hijrah holiday. Firstly, the particular date the Hijrah falls into became a problem, because some persons had announced Thursday, 20 August before the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs headed by the Sultan of Sokoto actually issued some letters to Governors stating that 21st August, 2020 should be observed as Hijrah day.
“Even if any government in power wanted to go on to declare holiday, which one would you declare? Then, in the case of Oyo State, somebody raised the issue and informed the governor that Hijrah day was on the 20th and that Isese day, (Traditional Worshipper’s day) was also on the 20th. Do you declare holiday in such a date and say half of today is for the traditionalists and the other half is for Hijrah?
“There was never a gazette which states that there must be holiday on Hijrah day in Oyo State. The Sultan of Sokoto in his letter never wrote that holiday must be declared, even President Buhari didn’t declare holiday for the whole country. Should we say Buhari has marginalized Muslims because he did not declare Hijrah holiday? What about the governors in the North where they are predominantly Muslims, are they marginalizing Muslims by not declaring the holiday?
