Mohammed O. Taoheed reports,
Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has said that Nigerians are too hungry to be swayed by their religious faiths in the choice they will make in the 2023 general elections.
Keyamo, a spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, made this statement in a recent interview on Sunday while reacting to the criticisms of the party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The minister maintained that Nigerians would like to see policies that will address their hunger rather than worrying about their faiths.
“Nigerians are hungry and want to see how the hunger issue can be addressed and not the same-faith ticket.
“They want to see our policy on Agriculture and see what Asiwaju has done before as governor of Lagos State and he can bring over such dexterity,” Keyamo spoke.
The ruling APC has chosen Bola Tinubu, a South-west Muslim, and Kashim Shettima, a North-east Muslim, as its presidential and vice presidential candidates in the February election.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), an arm of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in recent interview said that its opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC remains unchanged.
PFN added that the group has no affiliation with members of the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria who met with Tinubu, the APC presidential flagbearer in Abuja on Friday.
Keyamo reacting to this stated that PFN should concentrate on its primary assignment, which is to seek how to lead the Christian to paradise and not the presidential villa.
His words; “The purpose or duty of pastors, we have said so before, is to lead people to heaven. It is not to lead people to villa. The PFN should go and vote for their choice of candidates on Election Day if they seek to. They should not be questioning the decision not our party publicly.
“They are called by God to lead to heaven. If I go to Church every Sunday, I want to hear the sermon of God, not the sermon of politics on who should rule me. I want to listen to them talk about salvation, not villa.”
According to the Minister, PFN and CAN are not members of APC and should stop interfering in the affairs of the ruling party.
Keyamo added that the Christian bodies should join the political party if they want to take part in the country’s decision-making process.
“Is the PFN or CAN a member or structure of APC? The vice presidential candidate is a decision of our party leaders. It is our party’s decision. These external bodies are not part of us.
“If they want to take part in the decision-making process, they can as well come and join the political party. But they cannot stay outside and dictate to us how to conduct our affairs.
“If it is so offensive to certain persons, there is no need for the noise. They have options,” he said
