Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said he and other northern governors exploited religion to help Asiwaju Bola Tinubu win the 2023 presidential election.
The former governor said he used religion to combat tribalism and religion in politics.
A viral video quoted the ex-governor. He gave a Hausa-language speech in Kaduna before passing over.
He remarked, “Allah sees our heart, me and Zamfara State Governor, Mutawalle did it because of God and we didn’t do it for anything. We only do it to solve Nigeria’s religion dilemma and give South West Muslims a sense of belonging to authority. Our religion helped Asiwaju win.”
He also stated that Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shetima’s election as president and vice president of Nigeria repeated his Muslim/Muslim ticket in Kaduna.
“Everything we are able to achieve in Kaduna state presently has been achieved in Nigeria,” he remarked. No liar will claim to win an election as a Christian politician. Peter Obi lost.”
He and other northern governors succeeded in electing a Yoruba Muslim from the South West as president despite opposition.
In Hausa, El Rufai said, “Concerning the Presidential government, Professor Akintola claimed is correct. Northern governors supported returning the presidency to the West. A verbal pledge, God knows.
“When we noticed some people plotting for presidential post to remain in the North, we opposed, we are not like that. We claimed we are Muslims with traditions and cannot backtrack. First step. After we agree or they realise they cannot accomplish anything, we will address tribalism and religion in politics in our country. We supported BAT.
I was battling with Tinubu when we signed the pact. Professor Akintola and their leaders from Lagos said this is their thought. After we agreed to surrender power to the West, the Yoruba people from the South-West had a problem: their Muslims could not participate and win elections. A Christian must run with a Northern Muslim vice. Since Abiola, it has never happened. They wanted it, so I urged them to bring our supporter, BAT, and they received the ticket. We knew he would need a Muslim vice.
“Everything we are able to achieve in Kaduna state presently has been achieved in Nigeria,” he remarked. No liar will claim to win an election as a Christian politician. Peter Obi lost.
