The vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Sen. Kashim Shettima, has dismissed insinuations that the APC’s presidential standard-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would Islamise the country with the party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Shettima said Nigerians should be more concerned about how to develop the country, rather than engaged in religious sentiments, adding that Tinubu did not Islamise his family.
The senator, who is a Muslim, was recently nominated by the APC presidential candidate, as the latter’s running mate, leading to a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The development has since been eliciting reactions from Nigerians.
Speaking on Friday when he hosted members of the APC Professionals Forum on a congratulatory visit at his residence in Abuja, the two-term former governor of Borno State said it is time to end politics of religious sentiment in Nigeria.
Shettima stated that the world has gone past religious sentiment, hence the need for the country to focus on moving to the industrial age.
He further described Nigeria as “a great nation”, adding that hunger and insecurity know no religion or ethnicity just as poor infrastructure knows no region.
The APC vice-presidential candidate said the Tinubu/Shettima ticket has more to do with the desire to provide quality leadership to Nigerians than any religious sentiment.
Shettima said: “I want to reassure Nigerians that; they are accusing him of an attempt to Islamising the country, has he started with Islamising his own family?.
“Asiwaju Bola Amed Tinubu, yes, his vice-presidential running mate might be a Muslim, but his life mate for over 40 years is not only a Christian but a pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
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“He did not enforce his own Islamic faith on his own children, he was the first governor to hand over mission schools to the owners, and he has groomed people from all works of life.
“One of his commissioners while he was governor of Lagos State, was from Katsina State and another one was from Delta, he also had a special adviser of an Igbo extraction.”
The former governor further stated that Tinubu was a very decent man who was committed to the Nigerian project.
“We will support him in whatever way we can, so we can together; push the nation to a higher pedestrian,” he said.
He, however, said he was delighted that the APC Professionals Forum was solidly behind the party and Tinubu as its 2023 presidential candidate.
Shettima assured that the party and its presidential candidate would reach out to all interest groups ahead of the 2023 general election.
On his part, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S, who led the delegation, Alhaji Mohammed Hassan, said its members were open to working with Shettima and Tinubu.
Hassan said the forum which was an intellectual bank with members within and outside the country, was a conglomerate of over 107 associations and could deliver in any aspect of governance and social life.
He stated that the forum planned to organise a town hall meeting where it intended to feature the APC presidential candidate and his running mate to unveil their blueprint to Nigerians.
