Rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has raised the alarm over what he described as the growing use of religion as a political weapon in Nigeria, warning that the trend could deepen the country’s divisions and ultimately threaten national unity.
Adeyanju, in a statement issued on Tuesday, argued that Nigerian elections should be fought over ideas, policies and competing visions for the country, not through religious platforms or attempts to mobilise voters along faith-based lines.
His intervention comes amid renewed political activities ahead of the 2027 general election, with politicians increasingly engaging religious leaders and communities as they position themselves for the contest.
According to Adeyanju, the church should remain a place of worship rather than become another campaign ground for politicians seeking endorsements, influence or electoral support.
“Elections should be about ideas, policies and competing visions for Nigeria. Religion and politics should never be allowed to become instruments of division,” he said.
The activist specifically criticised what he described as the “renewed patronage of churches” by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Adeyanju argued that Obi’s reported engagements with religious circles risk reviving the kind of religious mobilisation that became a major feature of the 2023 presidential election.
For him, Nigeria has already seen how quickly political competition can become entangled with religious identity, and he believes the country cannot afford a repeat.
‘The church is not a campaign ground’
Adeyanju also turned his attention to religious leaders, urging pastors and other clerics to resist giving politicians a platform to campaign or solicit endorsements during worship services.
“The church is not a place for political campaigns or political gimmicks, and politicians are not pastors,” he stated.
He further claimed that the Electoral Act 2026 prohibits the use of places of worship for political campaigns and bars candidates from campaigning on religious, tribal or sectional grounds.
Adeyanju said religious leaders should therefore be particularly careful about how they engage politicians as the 2027 election approaches.
His argument is that once the pulpit becomes an extension of the political arena, the boundary between faith and partisan politics begins to disappear.
Also Read: Singer Tems calls out Global music industry’s ‘lazy’ categorization
And when that boundary disappears, he warned, religion can easily become a tool for political mobilisation rather than a force for social cohesion.
‘The 2023 precedent must not return’
Adeyanju also condemned the reported gathering of religious clerics by a governor to endorse President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the same standard should apply regardless of the politician involved.
He questioned why political actors should condemn religious mobilisation when their opponents do it, only to embrace the same strategy when it serves their own political interests.
“The gathering of religious clerics by a governor last week to endorse Tinubu is also condemnable, just as it is troubling to see Peter Obi appearing to return to the same politics of religious mobilisation that divided Nigerians in 2023,” he said.
For Adeyanju, the bigger issue goes beyond Tinubu or Obi.
It is about what happens when Nigerians begin to see elections primarily through the lens of religious identity.
“At what cost will it be when we continue to divide ourselves along religious lines using the weapon of politics?” he asked.
He warned that repeating the political tactics of 2023 could further deepen existing divisions at a time when Nigerians are already grappling with economic hardship, insecurity and political distrust.
Adeyanju ultimately called on pastors and religious leaders to protect the sanctity of their places of worship by refusing to turn churches into political stages.
“Pastors must desist from platforming politicians if they are to retain their respect and keep the house of God sacred,” he said.