Nigeria’s incoming Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima has addressed the concerns that he and his principal, Bola Tinubu, have an agenda to islamise Nigeria when they are sworn into office.
Africa Today News, New York reports that since Tinubu announced Shettima as his running mate in July 2022, there have been divergent views by different groups and individuals with some alleging that the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could be a ploy to Islamise Nigeria.
However, while speaking at a lecture in Abuja forming part of the events around Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, the incoming Vice President allayed such fears, saying there was no agenda to Islamise Africa’s most populous nation.
He described his principal as a Muslim who is married to a Christian and pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
‘I was a child of necessity, there is no Islamisation agenda. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim who is married to a Christian, not only a Christian but a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
‘Someone who has not Islamised his family, people are alluding that he has the intention to Islamise the nation,’ he added.
Read Also: Inauguration: Tinubu, Shettima’s Official Portraits Unveiled
The Vice President-elect revealed that he deliberately picked an Igbo man of the Catholic faith to be his Chief Security Officer.
Also selected as his security aide is a Northerner to be his Aide De Camp (ADC), saying his decision was based on togetherness and inclusivity.
‘Politics is about perception. As we begin the formation of a new administration, I deliberately picked an Igbo man, a Catholic, to be my Chief Security Officer,’ he stated.
‘For the purpose of inclusivity and togetherness, again I deliberately picked a Northern Christian to be my ADC. So the so-called founder of Boko Haram is going to be protected by…’
Also speaking at the lecture, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina has decried the fuel subsidy regime by the Federal Government, saying it only benefits the rich.
Lamenting that the continued payment to subsidise petroleum products was killing the Nigerian economy, Adesina said fuel subsidy gulped $10 billion in 2022 alone.