I won’t islamise Nigeria, Buhari tells Christian leaders
Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
The
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has told Christian clerics that he will not
Islamise the nation.
According to a statement issued on
Wednesday, Buhari said this during a meeting with Catholic bishops at
the Pope John Paul Centre in Abuja.
Buhari said he would always put Nigeria
first if elected into office, adding that when he ruled Nigeria between
December 1983 and August 1985, he did not impose Islam on any
individual.
He said having served in the military,
he had been posted to several parts of the country and served alongside
people of different religions and tribes.
He said the Peoples Democratic Party had
succeeded in misrepresenting him to the Christian community because
they could not sell their candidate.
He said, “I would like to solemnly
declare that in spite of what our detractors say, I am not a religious
fanatic of any sort and I have never been. In all my life, I have never
supported extremism of any kind, and nowhere in my record of service to
this nation can this false toga political opponents have tried so hard
to put on me, be substantiated. Indeed, it is very unfortunate and I
feel extremely sad that I have to give this type of assurance.
“My background is in the army, and there
is no doubt that the military is the most integrated pan-Nigerian
institution. And even today, the military is one of the institutions
that represents the pride of our nation’s possibilities in unity.
“Compatriots from every corner of this
country come together, work and live together, entrust their lives to
each other and integrate their families. It is a military where many of
my dearest friends from all faith and parts of the country, lost their
lives defending the unity of our nation. That was the military I served
in, and in that military it was impossible to be a bigot.”
He said in governance, competence should
always come before religion and that was why as head of state, he
appointed 11 Christians as governors out of the 19 states.
He said religion comes from personal conviction and should never be used to gain political advantage.
He noted that his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was not only a lawyer but a senior pastor.
He said, “For me, the issue of religion
is, and should always, be a matter of personal conviction. This personal
conviction approach to religion has defined my work and interactions
all my life, including my tenure in office as military Head of State.
“The religion of all those I worked with
was never a factor in their progress or in what happened to them. All
that mattered then, and should still matter today, are competence,
integrity and readiness to be fair to all.
“I was recently informed that we had a
balanced cabinet with key positions such as Finance, Energy and Defence
occupied by Christians. In addition, 11 of the 19 governors I appointed
were Christians. My most memorable recollections of subordinate service
was under Christian bosses, the finest our country had then, and among
the most respected today. Indeed one of the best appraisals I received
in the course of my military career was from General T.Y Danjuma.”
