The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, met with the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria in Abuja, Thursday night.
Exclusive photographs of his meeting with the northern clerics in his Abuja campaign office trended on the internet shortly after.
The development is coming barely three months after the Christian Association of Nigeria dissociated itself from the presence of some alleged bishops and pastors at the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the party, Kashim Shettima, saying they were desperados who went there for themselves.
At the meeting, the APC national leader reportedly explained to the delegation led by Archbishop John Praise of Dominion Chapel International Church his reason for selecting Shettima to the northern Christian bishops.
Sources at the disclosed that the bishops were told that Tinubu, married to a pastor with Christian children, is, to an average Muslim northerner, not a Muslim and that “If he picked a Christian running mate, it would be considered a Christian/Christian ticket which would be an own goal” for his political foes like Atiku to feast on and use as a weapon to destabilise him in APC’s strongholds in the North.
Tinubu told the clerics of his plans and programmes to improve the fortunes of Nigeria as well as mend fences across religious and ethnic lines.
Shedding light on his plans, Tinubu said: “How will Nigeria develop? How do we banish hunger? How do we improve the insecurity and how do we eliminate killing one and other, shedding of blood of 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 records, better exposure, better vision than any of my mates.”
The APC presidential candidate said he has always been a friend of the Christian community and should be considered based on his track records, plans and agenda for developing Nigeria.
He reaffirmed that his choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate was based on competence, capacity and fairness.
According to him: “When the shortlisted names came, I looked at the characters on the list, their background and everything and here is somebody (Kassim Shetimma) who is so brilliant, so committed, who, during the crisis in Bornu protected Christians.”
He urged all Nigerians to shun religious sentiments and focus on national development.
Chairman of Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria Archbishop John Praise said: “We are not committed to endorsing anybody but you should ask your conscience and from what you have heard and from the explanation, he (Tinubu) had given to us to make your own judgement of who will better rule and handle the country.”
