Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima says there is no agenda to Islamise Nigeria despite the Muslim-Muslim ticket with which he and his principal, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, emerged in the 2023 presidential election.
Recall that Tinubu’s choice of Shettima, also of the Muslim faith, generated mixed public reactions before the 2023 general elections.
Convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and elder statesman Edwin Clark had criticised the Muslim-Muslim ticket, describing it as a threat to the nation.
“There are rumours of an attempt to Islamise the country. Are all these pointers to the confirmation and actualisation of such rumours? One needs to bear in mind the antecedents of the major backers of Alhaji Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition, who include Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna state; Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Governor of Kano state; and the chosen one, Kashim Shettima”, he said.
But speaking during a lecture held as part of the presidential inauguration process in Abuja on Saturday, Shettima said his emergence as the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the February 25 presidential election, despite his religion, was an issue borne out of necessity and not an attempt to Islamise Nigeria.
“I was a child of necessity, there is no Islamisation agenda. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim who is married to a Christian, not only a Christian but a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
“Someone who has not Islamised his family, people are alluding that he has the intention to Islamise the nation.
“Politics is about perception. As we begin the formation of a new administration, I deliberately picked an Igbo man, a Catholic, to be my chief security officer.”
Shettima described Tinubu as a Muslim, married to a Christian and pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The Vice President-elect revealed that he deliberately picked an Igbo man, who is a Catholic, as his chief security officer and a northern Christian as his aide de camp for the purpose of togetherness and inclusivity.
“For the purpose of inclusivity and togetherness, again I deliberately picked a northern Christian to be my ADC. So the so-called founder of Boko Haram is going to be protected by….
“We are to serve. We are to listen. We are here to be held accountable. We are not sent on an evangelical mission. Therefore, like every mortal, we may stumble here and there. None of these mistakes could be intentional.
“We shall never be oblivious of the impermanence of this power and we acknowledge that we shall be judged by man and God”, he said.
