Governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu has urged Nigerians to put aside religious sentiment but rather focus on achieving a purposeful leadership capable of turning things around for good.
Governor Akeredolu gave the advice while giving a memorial lecture at the University of Ibadan.
The governor said the sentiment of religion is a weapon of mass mobilisation and a political tool to create confusion as well as a manipulation of the masses to grab power for relevance.
The governor who made references to different problems created in the past before Nigeria’s existence noted that the supremacy of one faith over the other may not end well for the country.
While clamouring for restructuring, the Ondo state governor also believes that power must be shifted to the South stating that it is non-negotiable.
He described the agitation against the same faith presidential running mate as regrettable and capable of instigating violence in the country.
There has been renewed agitation over what many called religious balancing of the Presidential Ticket of the All Progressives Congress following the emergence of the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima as the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party for the 2023 Presidential election.
The Presidential Candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is also a Muslim emerged at the party’s Special Convention and Presidential Primary held at the Eagle Square in June.
The Former Lagos governor had thereafter went on a consultation with major stakeholders in the Norh before settling for the former Borno Governor as his running mate.
His decision has led to many agitations especially from the Christian Association of Nigeria while some Other Christians have also backed his decision describing competence as more important than religion in determining his Presidential running mate.
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu who is a strong backer of the former Lagos State Governor had always insisted that the ticket should be more about competence than religion.
