Islamic clerics have urged Nigerians across the country to shun sentiments but vote for upright leaders in the 2023 general elections.

They gave the advice at a symposium organized by the Standard Bearers Islamic Organisation in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The organisation’s Kwara State Coordinator, Malam AbdulAfeez Adeagbo, urged Muslims to participate actively in the forthcoming polls.

He said, “Despite the various injunctions of Allah that direct Muslims to be proactive in the society, followed by the various tutorials of Prophet Muhammed (SAW) encouraging active participation in nation building displayed in words and deeds, we still have Muslims that opine that participation in the electoral process is forbidden.”

Dr Saheed Ashafa of the Department of Religious Studies, Osun State University, said the country’s prevailing security and economic conditions required purposeful leaders with strong moral and ethical qualities.

In his lecture, Malam Abdussalam Abdurrazaq, the Director of Public/Corporate Affairs of Voice of Nigeria, said corrupt citizens couldn’t have incorruptible leaders, urging Nigerians to support the government’s anti-graft war.

Malam Garba Attahiru, the Kwara Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the commission has ensured that the 2023 polls would credible.