BREAKING: Details of Tinubu's Meeting with CAN Leaders Emerge
- APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said he has never, and won't run his administration based on the religious bias if elected in 2023
- The former governor of Lagos state said this when he met with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, November 16
- Tinubu also explained why he picked Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election
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FCT, Abuja - Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, assures the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that he will not run his administration on the basis of religion if elected in 2023.
The former Lagos state governor gave the assurance when he met with the CAN leadership in Abuja on Wednesday, November 16.
Source: Twitter
He assured the Christian leaders that the same way his administration did not discriminate against anyone either based on tribe, religion or gender when he was Lagos governor, he would not start such in office as president.
This is contained in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Wednesday by Tinubu's media aide, Tunde Rahman.
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His words:
"My belief in the need for secular government and faith-based organizations to work in unison is not something adopted recently to benefit my campaign.
"As Governor of Lagos, I partnered with the Christian to improve lives and foster education. For instance, I returned mission schools to their owners, most of who are Christians.
"I instituted yearly Christian Denomination Service at the Governor’s residence as we approached the new year. This tradition continues in Lagos.
"More importantly, we fostered an atmosphere of religious tolerance and inter-faith collaboration. My cabinet was diverse and talented.
"In the exercise of government, I did not give a thought to whether a team member was Christian or Muslim, Yoruba, Igbo or Arewa.
"I have never lent myself to baseless prejudice and discrimination. To do so would be a recipe for failure in the governance of a diverse society and I am not a man that is familiar with failing.
"I never chased people out of Lagos nor made them feel unwanted. Under my administration Lagos welcomed all comers and continues to do so today.
"After me, Lagos has had one Muslim and two Christian governors. I may not be perfect. What human being is? But I am not a petty man secretly wedded to secret biases and prejudices.
"As such, I see all Nigerians as equals and as brothers and sisters in our national family. This means no one is inherently inferior or superior to anyone else, regardless of faith, place of origin, social status and gender. Anyone who does not hold this fair and equitable view, should not run for president in a country such as ours."
CAN has a great role to play, says Tinubu
Speaking further, Tinubu said the Christian body has a great role as the moral compass of society which he cherishes and will always support.
"You, as an organization and as individual leaders of CAN, are entrusted as the watch person of the welfare of this society from a Christian perspective. Which means functioning in an atmosphere of charity, understanding, patience and wisdom.
" I understand the tremendous importance of your work and have nothing but the deepest respect for your selfless contributions to our national cause," he added.
Muslim-Muslim ticket: Why I chose Kashim Shettima as my running mate
On his choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate, which has generated a lot of controversies, Tinubu assured the Christian body that he made the best available choice at his disposal without recourse to religious sentiments.
He said:
"I did not choose Senator Shettima so that we could form a same faith ticket. The ticket was constructed as a same progressive and people-based ideology ticket.
"I offer a confession. I selected Senator Shettima thinking more about who would best help me govern. Picking a Christian running mate would have been politically easier. But the easy way is rarely the right one. The selection of a running mate is at once a very momentous yet very intim*ate decision.
"Resting such a key decision on religious affiliation as the primary weight did not sit well with me. I am not saying there were not good and adequate potential running mates of the Christian faith.
"What I am saying is that the times we inhabit do not lend themselves to the good or adequate. We have urgent problems that lend themselves not to a Christian or Muslim solution. We need the best solution.
"Every time I thought about it, and I did think a lot; I came to the same conclusion: Kashim Shettima
Shettima's faith was immaterial, Tinubu says
Further defending his choice of Muslim running mate, Tinubu said Shettima's faith was immaterial.
"He (Shettima) is a brilliant man with superior intellectual capacity. He is studious and detailed oriented. Enjoying excellent organisational skills, Shettima fully understands the vital difference between governance and politics.
"This exceptionally gifted human being has humility of spirit, courage of his convictions and a strongly progressive worldview in harmony with my own perspectives on government and its relationship to the governed.
"I trust the calibre of the man. I know the great lengths he went in fighting Boko Haram in his state. He did his best to protect the Christian community and rebuilt damaged churches.
"This man understands the value of our national diversity in all of its ramifications, including religious. He possesses the courage to stand up to those who would wreck that diversity and freedom," Tinubu said.
I can't suppress the Christians of this nation - Tinubu
Continuing, Tinubu said people who have reacted harshly to his selection did so without knowing Shettima or giving him a fair chance.
"The rumour that this is some plot to suppress the Christian community is untrue and unfortunate.
"I can no more suppress the Christians of this nation than I can suppress the Christians in my own household, my very family. You all know my wife is Christian and a pastor. My children are Christians. I can no more disown them and their choice of faith than I can disown myself. As a husband and father to Christian wife and children, hearing such allegations is hurtful," he said.
My plan for Nigeria, Tinubu tells CAN leaders
The APC presidential candidate thereafter shared his campaign policies with the Christian leaders, asking for their support.
"We must move the nation forward more quickly so that hatred and pettiness haven’t a chance to imbed themselves and become the main colours of the fabric of our society.
"My team, Senator Shettima and I have crafted our Action Plan for Nigeria titled Renewed Hope. This agenda is based on the progressive notion that our economy must be recalibrated to ensure better jobs and wages for people. That all are entitled to basic health care and education.
"We will combat hunger and poverty by growing more food and better rewarding farmers for their toil.
"We shall revive our industrial capacity to provide work for our growing urban population and to produce more of the things that we need.
"Where the private sector thrives, we will not attempt to fix what is not broken. Where it falters, government shall lend a hand to keep people employed and the economy vibrant. Where there is a gap, we must fill it so that we more fully employ our idle workforce and productive capacity.
"We must better tend to the poor, vulnerable and elderly by strengthening the social safety net.
"We shall end the fuel subsidy because it has become an unproductive policy favouring an elite that needs no favours while giving the people precious little. Funds that were previously used for the subsidy will be invested in public transportation and other infrastructure, education, and health.
"Let us advance to the economy point where no parent is forced to send their children to bed hungry and no one is fearful that tomorrow will bring more lack and poverty.
"Fiscal power and authority shall be recalibrated to give the states more latitude to better fulfil their mandate of grassroots development and empowerment of people and local communities, This includes assessing each state’s best option regarding a more active role in crime prevention and law enforcement.
"On security, we will not relent until terrorists, kidnappers and criminals quit their malign ways or are completely defeated. We shall augment our security forces and use advanced technology to track and defeat these evil groups," he added.
Legit.ng gathers that Tinubu was accompanied to the session by his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Presidential Running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors Hope Uzodinnma (Imo), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq (Kwara), Deputy Senate Leader Senator Boroffice Ajayi, Senate Chief Whip Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Minister of Special Duties, Senator George Akume and many others.
CAN presents its demands to Tinubu
The leadership of CAN under new president Daniel Ukoh presented a charter of demands and issues to the APC presidential candidate.
They demanded among others:
- state police or a decentralized policing system
- devolution of power to states
- equal rights for all religions and their adherents
- right to self-determination by all ethnic groups
- right to control natural resources by communities that bear them
- no to open grazing, and
- an equitable electoral system that guarantees the right to vote and be voted for by all
Nigeria needs a who can deliver dividends of democracy, says Lagos CAN chairman
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the chairman of the Lagos state chapter of CAN, Dr S.T.V Adegbite said that the country is in dire need of a leader who can deliver the dividends of democracy.
Adegbite made this call at the opening ceremony of the 9th Annual General Conference of the Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter held at the Love of Christ Generation Church on Victoria Island.
“God will take control of our country and Nigeria will remain an indivisible entity. We just need somebody that can lead us right and give us the dividends of democracy and we must pray, once we pray, God will answer our prayers," the cleric said.
Source: Legit.ng
