Some leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) rooted for and ensured the victory of Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election because he is not a radical Muslim who will marginalise Christians in the country, says a cleric, Samuel Kwamkur.

Mr Kwamkur, a former CAN national director for legal services and public affairs, called Christians to throw their weight behind Mr Tinubu.

“Tinubu is one person who is ready and willing to move this nation forward. So, we urge Christians and, indeed, Nigerians to support him to succeed,” the cleric explained.

The former CAN legal director added, “Our president is a liberal Muslim and will never discriminate. This is why some of us supported him wholeheartedly.”

Mr Kwamkur expressed displeasure over recent comments by some politicians disparaging other faiths, saying they could throw the nation into a serious religious crisis, thereby causing disaffection among Christians and Muslims in the country.

“Discrimination, ethnic profiling and all genocidal attempts to consume a race or religion constitute injustice and are recipes for anarchy and crisis,” the cleric stressed.

He added, “So, we wish to strongly advise the president, whom all Nigerians overwhelmingly voted to be mindful of such political allies.”

Mr Kwamkur stated this during a news conference on Sunday in Jos.

He also advised Mr Tinubu to be wary of ethnic and religious bigots posing as his political associates.

The cleric particularly called on the president to distance himself from politicians using ethnicity and religion to perpetuate themselves in politics.

He further called on governors and other political leaders from the northern part of the country to preach unity and work toward alleviating poverty, insecurity, hunger and squalor among the people.

“I wish to call on our president to be mindful of friends, associates and politicians who are bigots and seek to work with him as they will do more harm to the system and the nation,” said Mr Kwamkur. “Nothing good can come out of such fanatics that will be for the general interest of the nation.”

Mr Kwamkur asked the governors, “particularly the ones in the North,” to work to remove “our battered citizens from poverty and insecurity.”

“Our leaders should ensure the provision of good healthcare and other benefits of good governance, rather than dwell in preaching hate, religious and tribal differences,” Mr Kwamkur stated.

(NAN)