Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has said he is aware that 67 per cent of Christians in Southern Kaduna will not vote for him in the governorship election even if he picks the Pope as his running mate.
He added that there was a need for competence to be given priority over religion and ethnicity, hence his decision to run with a Muslim/Muslim ticket.
El-Rufai, who was a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday, said Nigeria ought to divorce religion from politics.
The governor, who is a Muslim, had come under harsh criticism from the Christian Association of Nigeria and other interest groups for picking a Muslim as a running mate.
El-Rufai, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, said even his outgoing deputy, Yusuf Bala Bantex, who is a Christian, was treated like an outcast because he was in the APC. Read more