Lalong: Pope didn’t oppose my appointment as Tinubu’s campaign DG

Plateau State Governor and Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Simon Lalong, has said he will not resign his appointment as the party’s campaign DG, saying even Pope Francis did not oppose his appointment.

Lalong, an ardent Catholic, said the Pope has not told him that accepting to lead the Muslim-Muslim APC presidential ticket was against the tenets of Christianity.

He made this known in reaction to rallies held by some groups in Abuja, calling on him to reject the offer to serve as the Director-General of the APC presidential campaign organisation ahead of the 2023 general election.

However, Governor Lalong, while speaking to State House correspondents on Wednesday, said he would not reject his new appointment just to satisfy the wishes of certain individuals or groups.

He said: “The Pope is not angry with my decision to be the DG of the Muslim-Muslim presidential campaign.

“I came back home and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) welcomed me at the airport.

”The next day I addressed stakeholders of Plateau and I told them why I’m accepting and then there was jubilation, all of them accepted.

“So, if you see people talking about me rejecting, I have accepted already – is not an issue. Some of them have already keyed into it – I’m a Christian. If you watch my TVC interview, I was born a Catholic, baptised a Catholic, confirmed a Catholic.

“Today, I went through missionary schools. I was taught by missions I respect my being a Christian.

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“I have been given the highest award by the Pope, I still hold that award – the highest Papal Award, I want people to know, Knight of Saint Gregory the Great, I have it and one day if you want I will wear my uniform and come here. So those who are talking it I don’t even know where they are.

“I hold a Papal night and as a catholic everything we do, we do it and send the advice to the Pope.

“The Pope has not told me that what I’m doing (to accept Director General) is bad – As a catholic, we take that direction.

“But, generally as a governor of a State, I’m not responsible to only my faith. I’m responsible to other people who belong to other faiths, who are not even Muslims or Christians,” the governor stated.

Lalong further urged Nigerians to grow up from ethnic or religious sentiments, adding that he has already accepted the job and there was nothing anybody could do to dissuade him from performing his responsibilities.

He added that he was at the Presidential Villa to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the University of Jos as a national cancer centre as well as granting presidential pardon to the former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye.

Governor Lalong said the people of Plateau State would remain grateful to President Buhari for delivering a lot of democratic dividends to the state.

The Star