Kaduna Governor Nasir El-rufai has frowned at the use of religious sentiment by politicians for electoral gains.
He said there are more important issues confronting Nigeria that needs urgent attention, noting that politicians going to churches to campaign, using religion as a divisive tool among Nigerians should be punished
“Our people are united in their poverty, in their need for education, for a decent healthcare and to put food on their table, that is what unites us, that is what we should focus on.
“But some people are campaigning in churches, some are holding internal meetings with religious leaders to promote ethnic and religious division, it is the last thing Nigeria needs now at a time when the whole world is facing challenges ultra-nationalism and global supply chain disruption,” Mr El-Rufai said.
The Kaduna governor spoke at the commissioning ceremony of the head office of the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development on Tuesday.
Speaking further, Mr El-Rufai said
“I am concerned as a citizen, as a governor and as a Muslim about the way and manner some of the politicians have gone about campaigning using religion and ethnic division as a tool.
“And your Eminence I think this election causes for us a very unique opportunity to take religion out of politics in Nigeria and punish those that are trying to use religion as a tool,” he added.
Nigerians have a history of voting along ethno-religious lines, with clerics and emirs, especially in the predominantly Muslim North, wielding a strong influence among illiterate and impoverished masses.
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, emphasis of sectional bias has become rife as leading contenders work to rouse their bases for massive vote haul.
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