The Senator representing Kogi West, Smart Adeyemi, has allayed the fears of Christians over the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu’s choice of a fellow Muslim, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.
While canvassing support for the same-faith ticket of the APC in an interview with The Nation on Tuesday in Abuja, Adeyemi said that Christians have nothing to fear ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The lawmaker who recently indicated interest to sponsor a bill to bar same-faith ticket in the future said the antecedents of the APC candidates should be considered instead of their religion.
According to him, the bill he’s sponsoring to bar same-faith ticket is not to ratify the current status quo, but to prevent futuristic abuse of having a same-faith ticket.
Appealing to the Christian community, Adeyemi said Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima are not religious bigots.
He said, “If you look at the two of them (Tinubu/Shettima), they have something to offer. For you to assess an individual, you first of all look at his antecedent, what people think about him, and what he has said about himself, then you draw a conclusion.
“The antecedents of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to me, he has the credentials required to govern Nigeria. He succeeded in setting the governorship structure in Lagos where Christians and Muslims rotate governorship; where Igbos and Hausas hold political positions in Lagos. It is where you see a non-Yoruba person being a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
“And this is what we need in Nigeria. We need to cement this country together. For me, Asiwaju laid the foundation. Nigeria requires more than ever before unity, fairness, diversification of the economy, and safety of lives and property. These are the things required in Nigeria today.
“He has paid his dues. They were in the trenches fighting for this democracy. There is no aspect of leadership that Asiwaju is lacking. If you look at Shettima, I’ve known him for 13 years now. He is a highly intelligent person; highly cerebral. I don’t see him as a religious bigot.”