President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday,
declared that the allegation that he is favouring one religion over the other
is far from the truth.
He said all through his public
life, he had never contravened his oath of office.
This was as he called on
religious leaders to work towards the broader goal of building a strong and
unified nation, and avoid insinuations that could divide the populace,
especially along religious lines.
Recall that the Bishop of Sokoto
Diocese, Matthew Kukah, recently stated that Buhari “rode into town like a knight
in shining armour…the bogeyman of religion, region and ethnicity, which we
thought we had overcome by the sheer nature of your support base, have come
back with a vengeance to haunt and threaten the very foundation of our
existence.”
But the President, while
receiving a delegation of the Arewa Pastors Non-Denominational Initiative for
Peace in Nigeria led by Bishop John Abu Richard, stated that religious leaders
had the responsibility of creating an enabling environment for peace and
development to thrive.
“Some voices, for political or
ethnic reasons are making unguarded statements accusing the government and
myself in particular of religious bias.
“Let me assure you, honourable
clergymen that this is far from the truth. In my career as a soldier,
administrator, and politician, I have never veered from my oath of office.
“When I had the honour to lead a
Military Government there were more Christians than Muslims in the Federal
Executive Council and the Supreme Military Council.
“This was not by design but I
appointed people on their merit without the slightest bias. The present Federal
Executive Council is also evenly balanced; again not by design but by
respecting and rewarding individual qualities,’’ Buhari said, according to a
statement issued by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina.
The President expressed delight
at the proposition to hold a one day prayer and fasting meeting for the nation,
April 26, 2018, assuring that he would direct the Inspector General of Police
to provide adequate security for the gathering.
In his remarks, the leader of the
delegation said more than 45,000 pastors in the Northern part of Nigeria had
registered with the initiative to use their pulpits for the propagation of the
gospel of peace, and shun political distractions.
Richard urged other pastors to
support the administration as it works towards ending the violence in various
parts of the country and avoid politically coloured sermons.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com