TheCable: And there is this sensitive issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket... Buhari: You see, Nigerians will always discover impossible room for manoeuvre for politicians. I had to face one of the governors in our party’s meetings. I told you I joined partisan politics in April 2002. In 2003, I was given a ticket. Whom did I chose as my running mate? Chuba Okadigbo. He was brought up by Zik. And he was senate president and was a serving senator when he accepted to be my running mate. He was a Roman Catholic. He was an Igbo. In 2007, whom did I pick? Edwin Ume-Ezeoke. He was a Roman Catholic. He was an Igbo. And in 2010, I even chose a pastor. Pastor Tunde Bakare. Honestly, what do Nigerians want me to do? If they don’t believe I’m not a fundamentalist, what also can I do? In any case, who attempted to kill me? Is it Boko Haram or who because I told them they were ungodly? Again I repeated it during my declaration that they are ungodly. Because no religion advocates hurting the innocent. No religion. So if you go and kill children while they are sleeping, blow people up in churches, in mosques, in the market place, and motor park, you cant say Allau Akbar. Because Allau Akbar means God is great. Now if you believe God is great, he says you must not hurt the innocent. There must be a justice system, investigations... if you find people guilty, punish them. So, you either dont believe that God is great, or you dont know what you are saying. Is it for this that they attempted to blow me up? Or somebody else did it? So the question of this Muslim-Muslim ticket, although it was a long way from Abiola and Kingibe [in 1993], all the same, I have not absolutely closed my mind to picking a Christian or Muslim as running mate if I get the ticket. Because I firmly believe that Nigerians, having gone through what they have gone through, realise it is not a matter of religion, but a matter of Nigeria. And the main religions, Christianity and Islam, they know and they believe in the almighty God. The question of stealing and short-changing people in the name of religion should stop. Why did Nigerians line up and elect Abiola and Kingibe, both Muslims? The late Joseph Tarka, in a clearly Roman Catholic environment, brought Ibrahim Imam from Borno, to his constituency to represent Tivland in the Northern House of Assembly in 1961. This new phenomenon of religion is another blackmail political confusionists in Nigeria are bringing to the fore. I will tell you something. Tinubus wife is a Christian, Governor Fashola’s wife is a Christian, Governor Amosun’s wife is a Christian, Bisi Akande’s wife is a Christian, Governor Ajimobis wife is a Christian. For goodness sake, the children of these political leaders in Nigeria were bred and brought up by Christian mothers. You think those people, wherever they participate, they will bring a religious issue? What kind of people are we? Nigerians will always bring something to cause confusion while we are trying to stabilize the system.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 05:36:16 +0000
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