Presidential Candidate, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari , has said that he
is not a religious fanatic.
Buhari stated this in Abuja on
Thursday in a meeting with no
fewer 200 pastors from the 19
northern states under the aegis of
Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye
Forum .
Giving a background of his
stewardship as a military Head of
State, he said that all that mattered
to him then were competence,
integrity and fairness to all.
“I would like to solemnly declare
that in spite of what our detractors
say, I am not a religious fanatic of
any sort and I have never been.
In all my life, I have never supported
extremism of any kind, and nowhere
in my record of service to this
nation can this false toga, political
opponents have tried so hard to put
on me, be substantiated.
Indeed, it is very unfortunate and I
feel extremely sad that I have to
give this type of assurance,” he said.
Buhari restated that the issue of
religion was, and should always be
a matter of personal conviction.
“This personal conviction approach
to religion has defined my work and
interactions all my life, including my
tenure in office as military Head of
State.
The religion of all those I worked
with was never a factor in their
progress or in what happened to
them.
“All that mattered then, and should
still matter today, are competence,
integrity and readiness to be fair to
all,’’ he stressed.
He said that he had a balanced
cabinet with key positions,
including Finance, Energy and
Defence, occupied by Christians, in
addition to 11 of the 19 governors
he appointed.
“My most memorable recollections
of subordinate service was under
Christian bosses, the finest our
country had then, and among the
most respected today.
Indeed, one of the best appraisals I
received in the course of my military
career was from Gen. T.Y. Danjuma.
Let me state this categorically that
I, Muhammadu Buhari, as an
individual, and as president of this
great country by the grace of God, if
given the opportunity to serve, have
no personal religious agenda.
And, I will not entertain, consider or
promote the religious agenda of
anyone. I will not condone any
initiative that seeks to promote one
religion over the other.
Neither I, nor my party, or any
member of my team has any desire
or plan to Islamise or Christianise
Nigeria or support anyone with
such intention.
Sharia cannot therefore be the law
of Nigeria,’’ Buhari assured.
He said that as a religious nation,
the burning of places of worship
“constitutes one of the vilest forms
of abomination to all those who
believe in God.’’
Also speaking, Buhari’s running
mate, Yemi Osinbajo, pledged to re-
enforce feeding in all primary
schools in the country.
`”In our land today, we have
reports that 110 million people are
extremely poor, and poverty knows
no tribe or religion.
Corruption has made us lose so
much money. In Osun, it costs N2.6
billion to feed children of school
age,’’ he said.
The Chairman of the Forum, Habu
Aminchi, urged Christians to come
out en-masse and vote for
candidates of their choice.
Aminchi charged all Nigerians to
continue to pray that God would
restore the country’s glory in all
fields of human endeavour.
“I can tell you with that everything
will be okay; the economy will
bounce back, businesses will boom
and even offerings will increase,’’ he
said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN )
reports that highlights of the event
were the singing of a hymn by all
and the presentation of a Bible to
Buhari and Osinbajo.
NAN also recalls that Buhari, in
furtherance of his campaign for the
presidency, met with the
Conference of Catholic Bishops of
Nigeria on Wednesday to allay
their fears on religious freedom
