Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, foremost presidential candidate in the country and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday met with some Christian clerics under the aegis of the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria.
He told the clerics that he is better positioned to enhance the fortunes of the country and that his choice of a Muslim running mate was beyond religion and other sentiments but based on a conviction to move the country forward.
Tinubu declared: “How will Nigeria develop? How do we banish hunger? How do we improve the insecurity and how do we eliminate killing one another, and shedding blood on innocent citizens? That is what we must take to the office and not our religion.
“My intention is clear. Not in religiosity. My intention is to develop this country, to bring prosperity to our country and I have better qualifications, better track record, better exposure, better vision than any of my mates.”
On the choice of his running mate, Tinubu said; “When the shortlisted names came, I looked at the characters on the list, their backgrounds and everything and here is somebody (Kashim Shettima) who is so brilliant, so committed, who, during the crisis in Borno protected Christians.”
Tinubu admonished religious sentiments, saying; “Let us develop intellectual inclusiveness to build an understanding on which way Nigeria.”
The Chairman of Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria, Archbishop John Praise in his response explained: “We are not committed to endorsing anybody, but you should ask your conscience and from what you have heard and from the explanations, he (Tinubu) has given to us, to make your own judgment of who will better rule and handle the country.”
On her own, Senator Grace Bent from Adamawa State who facilitated the meeting expressed optimism that Tinubu’s victory will usher in a new dawn for the body of Christ in the country.
