Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai has opined that Nigerians should give preference to ability, capacity and competence and not make religion a focal point in governance.
Many individuals and groups have vehemently kicked against any move by Tinubu and the APC to pick a Muslim as vice.
The two major parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) both have Atiku Abubakar and Ahmed Tinubu as Muslims.
But El-Rufai while appearing on ChannelsTV’s Politics Today on Friday evening, said he does not care if the President and his vice are all Muslim or all Christians, insisting that what matters at this point is the delivery of good governance.
According to him, many of his friends are Christians and that a Lagos-based Pentecostal pastor, Tunde Bakare brought him into the CPC in 2014 and not President Muhammadu Buhari as it is believed in the general public.
El-Rufai, one of those who could be favoured for APC’s vice president slot, said people should rather focus on the ability, capacity and competency of individuals instead of their regions.
“I don’t look at people from Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian angle. Most of my closest friends are Christians.
“It was Pastor Tunde Bakare, a pentecostal pastor, that took me to CPC, not President Buhari. I’m very close to Bakare. I’m very close to many Christians.
“I don’t think the business of governance has anything to do with religion. I think we should look for the best person for the job. A person that will get the job done and let him do that.
“I’m the wrong person to ask because in my State I picked a very competent and qualified woman as a running mate in the 2019 election but just because she happens to be a Muslim people were calling it ‘Muslim-Muslim ticket’ and they said we were going to lose but we won overwhelmingly.
This fixation of Nigerians on religion instead of conscience, capacity and capability is quite sad and pathetic and I urge you as the media, please take religion out of governance. I don’t think we should be looking at religion.
“Let’s develop this country… Nigeria is at crossroads, we face very serious dangers in security, in economic meltdown…but all people are concerned as far as who will be President or Vice president is concerned, is religion. It’s so sad. It’s not our religions that will solve our problems,” El-Rufai told ChannelsTV.
