All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu claimed that Kassim Shettima defended Christians during the Borno crisis.
This was said by Tinubu during his Thursday meeting in Abuja with the Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria.
The former Lagos governor assured the bishops that Shettima was not a danger to the Christian community.
He explained that his choice of Shettima was based on competence and not religious considerations.
He continued by saying that the nation’s political and socioeconomic problems can only be solved by competent people.
The APC presidential candidate said he has always been a friend of the Christian community and he should be considered based on his track records, plans, and agenda for developing Nigeria.
“How will Nigeria develop? How do we banish hunger? How do we improve the insecurity and how do we eliminate killing one another, and shedding of the blood of innocent citizens, that is what we must take to the office and not our religion.
“My intention is clear, not religiosity. My intention is to develop this country, to bring prosperity to our country and I have better qualifications, better track records, better exposure, and better vision than any of my mates.
“When the shortlisted names came, I looked at the characters on the list, their background and everything and here is somebody (Kassim Shetimma) who is so brilliant, so committed, who, during the crisis in Borno protected Christians,” Tinubu stated.
However, in his brief comment after the meeting, Chairman of Pentecostal Bishops Forum of Northern Nigeria, Archbishop John Praise, said, “We are not committed to endorsing anybody, but you should ask your conscience and from what you have heard and from the explanation, he (Tinubu) had given to us to make your own judgment of who will better rule and handle the country.”