The Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, has apologised to the Muslim community over his controversial comment regarding the election of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly.
Recall that during a meeting with some lawmakers-elect in the buildup to the National Assembly elections, Mr Shettima said, due to state of the polity, voting a Christian as Senate President is better than the most puritanical Northern Muslim.
Thereafter, Mr Shettima received backlash especially from the Muslim community.
But in an interview with BBC Hausa, on Friday, Mr Shettima tendered his unreserved apology, saying that his utterances were misunderstood, and taken out of context.
He said, “the comment I made is for the benefit of Nigeria but was misinterpreted. I receive confidential intelligence reports that are not suitable for public disclosure.
“I sincerely did not have any intention to cause harm to any individual or the Islamic religion. However, being an imperfect human being, I seek forgiveness from the community and from my Lord.
“I pledge that I will never reiterate such words again, as I am a devout Muslim, and my family lineage has faithfully followed the path of Islam for more than 1,400 years.
“To anyone who was hurt by my statement, I apologise, as it was never my intention to disparage any religion.”
Meanwhile, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Prof. Haruna Yerima, said that the Vice President’s call was for national unity, and never to disparage any religion let alone Islam or Muslims.
The academic spoke on Thursday while responding to a viral video footage where the vice president was seen purportedly inferring that the most incompetent southern Christian is better than the most puritanical northern Muslim for the senate presidency.
Mr Yerima said Vice President Shettima is a good Muslim, and what he did was a patriotic effort in seeking the preservation of Nigeria’s political diversities and inclusivity.
“It is therefore inconceivable for the same person to be said to be denigrating any religion, and Islam for that matter.” He said some mischief makers have deliberately edited (out of context) the video to portray the vice president as denigrating his fellow Northern Muslims.
“It is a political season and desperate politicians can go any length to blackmail and denigrate their opponents. That is exactly what they tried to do to the vice president. What Shettima did was to advocate for political stability by campaigning for a Southerner to be senate president since we had a Muslim president and a Muslim vice president.
“His patriotic appeal for political inclusion and equilibrium was wickedly twisted to mean attack on his Muslim brethren in Northern Nigeria. He was simply but consciously quoted out of contest. This is callous and insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians irrespective of their diversities.
The academic said, in line with Shettima’s advocacy, many communities have adopted zoning in their political equation even before it assumed a national limelight in 1999.
“For instance, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae were not the best Nigerians when they were presented as presidential candidates of PDP and AD/APC in 1999.
“They were both Christians and Southerners. Also, they were presented not because there were no better candidates from the North at that time. In fact, the APP candidate Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, a competent Muslim and northerner, had to step down and pair with Chief Falae in a joint ticket.”
He said, “both Obasanjo and Falae were presented to achieve national cohesion, stability and inclusion, particularly after the June 12 elections annulment. That is the point Vice President Shettima was trying to make. He was not disparaging Islam or Muslims.”
The former House of Representatives member said the APC, having won national elections, “must be seen to be working towards uniting all the component parts of the country.
“Like the Vice President said, it is crucial to allow a Southern Christian emerge as senate president, certainly not because there are no better or competent Northern Muslim candidates.”
Mr Yerima said Shettima was vindicated on the floor of the senate on Tuesday when the overwhelming majority of the lawmakers, irrespective of their religious affiliations, voted for a southern Christian as their leader.
“This reinforces our founding fathers’ cardinal objective of unity in diversity. That is the only way the country will achieve its desired potential – by giving a sense of belonging to all the component parts,” the APC chieftain said.
