The governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has emphasized the need to punish elected officials who use religion as a political talking point.
At the opening of the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development’s headquarters in Kaduna yesterday, the governor gave a speech.
He expressed alarm over the ways in which some politicians were dividing their electorate along racial and religious lines.
He stated that Nigerians have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to remove religion from politics at the 2023 elections.
El-Rufai urged academics and royal fathers to pray to God to help him choose the right candidate for the upcoming general elections in February 2023 who will bring the country together and advance the nation.
Additionally, he urged the royal fathers and academics to convey to the populace the urgent necessity of making sure that future elections did not center on religion but rather on what an individual might do to better the condition of the common person.
“People are united in their poverty, in their need for education, in decent healthcare and to put food on their table, that is what we should focus on but some people are holding meetings to promote religious and ethnic division. That is the last thing Nigeria needs at a time when the whole world is facing challenges of ultra-nationalism and global supply chain disruption.”
Apologizing for any wrong he might have committed, he said, “We try to do what is right but only God is right, my apologies to anyone that I have offended, we have five months to go and I will like to leave and sleep in peace.”