THE Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that the business of governance should be viewed beyond the lens of religion.
El-Rufai stated this on Friday in an interview with Channels Television.
The governor was reacting to talks that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was considering a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
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Rather than considering the sensibility of religion, the governor said, competence should be chosen instead.
He stressed that religion would not solve the problems of Nigeria, adding that it would be the competence of the elected leaders that would solve the country’s problems.
He said, “I don’t think the business of governance has to do with religion. I think we should look for the best person for the job. The person who will get the job done.
“I’m the wrong person to ask that question because in my state I picked a very competent and qualified woman as my running mate in the 2019 elections.
“But just because she happens to be a Muslim, people were calling it a Muslim-Muslim ticket and they said we would lose the election. We didn’t. We won overwhelmingly.”
He condemned the fixation of Nigerians with religion instead of competence, capacity and capability as quite sad and pathetic.
“I don’t think we should be looking at religion. We want to develop this country. When I get into a plane, I don’t ask about the religion of the pilot. When I go to the hospital, I don’t ask about the religion of the doctor. I just want to get well and get to my destination, even on an aircraft.
“Nigeria is at a crossroads. We face very serious dangers in security, economic meltdown, and global issues affecting us. All that people are concerned with as far as who will be president and vice-president is religion.
“It is not our religion that will solve our problems. It is people who are competent and capable that will address Nigeria’s problems, unite the country and put it on a progressive path,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned the presidential candidates of the leading political parties against choosing their running mates of the same religion as them.
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