Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna has said that there is nothing wrong with the speculation of a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor stated that Nigerians should be worried about the competence, capacity and credibility of the presidential candidate and his running mate and not their religion.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, El-Rufai admonished Nigerians to stop their fixation on the religion of political office holders.
The governor added that competence and capacity will not solve the challenges facing the country and not religion or other sentiments. He disclosed that some of his closest friends are Christians.
El-Rufai asserted that the business of governance has nothing to do with religion and ethnicity, describing the current debate on the Mulsim/Muslim ticket in the country as pathetic and sad.
He said: “I don’t look at people from the lens of Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian, some of my closest friends are Christians.
“It was Pastor Tunde Bakare, a pentecostal pastor, who took me to CPC, not President Muhammadu Buhari. I’m very close to Pastor Bakare. I’m very close to many Christians.
“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 Muslim-Muslim ticket and they said we are going to lose. We didn’t. We won overwhelmingly.
“This fixation of Nigerians with religion instead of competence, capacity and capability is quite sad and pathetic and I urge you as the media to take religion out of governance and let’s look for capacity, competence and delivery.
“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 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, capable that will address Nigeria’s problems, unite the country and put it on a progressive path.”
