The Borno State chapter of the Christians Association of Nigeria, CAN, has hailed the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, for picking the two-term governor of the state, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate for the 2023 elections.
The Chairman of the chapter, Bishop Mohammed Naga, in a statement on Monday, said Mr Shettima has been compassionate to the Christian community in the state.
He said: “I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman I do not receive salary or kobo from the Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told. This Governor has shown compassion to the Christian Community.
“For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, but the victims were not many.
“By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He also gave an additional N5 million to Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home. He gave another N5 million to non-indigenes who fled to Cameroon to come back to Nigeria.
“The Governor even directed the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA to be supplying food directly to the IDPs under the Christian leadership.
“In fact, the Governor insisted that he wanted Christian IDPs to stay together with their Muslim counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it wise to separate Christian IDPs to avoid friction between displaced persons dealing with trauma.
Continuing, the clergyman said as a Christian he had nothing to fear about the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Sincerely speaking as a Christian and a preacher, absolutely I have nothing to fear about Asiwaju’s picking a Muslim as his running mate because he’s not a religious bigot and I’m happy he has made his mind known to the public in the person of his preferred running mate.
“Seeing another Presidential candidate applauding him is a plus for him and supporters of Asiwaju. Congratulations to the awaiting president and vice president,” he concluded.
