In the light of the controversy that has trailed the All Progressives Congress, APC Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket Femi Fani-Kayode has disclosed that the party will not Islamise the country if it wins the presidency next year.
The APC has been widely criticized for choosing Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kassim Shetima as its presidential candidate and vice presidential candidates, respectively, citing the multi-religious nature of the country.
People of the same faith have never ruled the country under a democratic government since 1999, so the decision of the ruling party to forge ahead with its Muslim/Muslim joint presidential ticket despite serious protests across the country has shocked not a few Nigerians who feared that the country could be destabilized as a result.
Speaking on the issue, Fani-Kayode said God has told him that the party will not Islamise the country if it sweeps to power next year.
He said he believes in the capacity of Tinubu and Shetima to rule, rather than their respective faith.
He explained that he longer holds the view of Islamisation or Fulanisation of the country after joining the party because he now sees things from a different perspective.
“Since I joined APC, I realised that, like I said earlier, things have completely changed. A situation whereby in this country today we have, no less than 20 Christian governors. The whole of the south-west has Christian governors, except for Osun state, which has now changed because we have a Christian governor who is coming in.
“A situation like that tells you clearly that the country cannot be Islamised and neither is our party APC interested in that. What is happening as far as I’m concerned is this, we have reformed and moving forward,” he stated.
God has informed him that Tinubu has no plan to Islamise the country, he said.
According to him, “Same faith ticket was a challenge but we looked into it. I prayed about it, I consulted, I spoke to Kashim because all along my position has been – it all depends who the vice-president is.
“It is not about the faith. It is about the individual and if the individual is a Muslim that I can live with, I’m prepared to live with that. I spoke to this man and Tinubu.
“The candidate himself returned schools to the missionaries in Lagos something that had not been done before. The candidate gave land to so many of these mega churches in Lagos when he was governor and since that time they have been granted licences to build churches.
“Go to the north, the vice, that is Shettima himself, I met him for over three hours, we discussed. I looked into the man’s eyes and raised a number of pertinent questions which I needed to be satisfied with and I was satisfied with his answers.
“He has built more churches in Borno state than any other before him and since that time and he won the confidence of many Christians. So the issue of Islamisation no longer arises.
Fani Kayode, a trenchant critic of the APC accused the party of trying to Islamise Nigeria.
But since he joined the ruling party from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP earlier this year, and having met the president in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s Presidency the former minister has toned down his frequent attacks on the government, close watchers of the nation’s politics say.
They insist that the former Minister of Aviation would no longer say anything that is capable of painting the ruling party in bad light ahead of the 2023 general election.
Therefore, many of his critics will not be surprised that he threw his weight behind the controversial Muslim/Muslim ticket.
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