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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said those criticising him over his choice of Kashim Shettima as his running mate approached him for the position.
He said most of them were close to him, adding that they had indicated interest to become his running mate, an overture he claimed he bluntly turned down.
Tinubu spoke during an interactive session with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Abuja, led by Archbishop Daniel Ukoh, on Wednesday.
Tinubu’s choice of Shettima, a fellow Muslim had generated opposition and criticisms from many Nigerians, including the leadership of CAN.
Among those criticising the the Muslim-Muslim ticket was former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Tinubu’s close ally, Babachir Lawal, who described the decision as “a disastrous error.’’
Also, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who was opposed to the idea, asked Christians in Nigeria not to waste their votes on the APC candidate in the 2023 election.
But addressing the Christian leaders at the Ecumenical Centre, Abuja, the former Lagos State Governor dismissed the claims that he planned to Islamise Nigeria with his choice of Shettima as the vice presidential candidate.
He said: “People have reacted harshly to my selection. They are my friends, they lobbied me and wanted to be my running mate but I bluntly rejected them. The rumour that this is some plot to suppress the Christian community is untrue and unfortunate. I don’t have that kind of agenda. The bucks stop on my table, not on the vice president’s table unless so delegated. He cannot even forgive convicted inmates if I don’t delegate the power to him. What is the vice president?
‘’I can no more suppress the Christians of this nation than I can suppress the Christians in my own household, my very family. I dare not contest the presidential position in my house because I will lose, they are all Christians. If I did not Islamise my family, I cannot Islamise Nigeria. It hurts to hear such allegations. We cannot make progress if we continue to follow that path in the country. Religion will not help us. It won’t do any good to us. “
While appealing for the support of the Christian leaders, Tinubu said: ‘’We are all here and witnessed Obasanjo and Atiku publicly fighting. We are asking for your votes; think twice, look at our records, and the way we have behaved in one office before the other before you take a decision. How best has a Christian and a Muslim President worked for Nigeria? Maybe one of these days we will have a Christian/Christian ticket. The person that I know will help me in the election is the person I have chosen.”