I have no ambition to impose Sharia on Nigerians – Buhari…Says I am not a religious bigot

I have no ambition to impose Sharia on Nigerians – Buhari…Says I am not a religious bigot

By Alex Uangbaoje
The All Progressives Congress (APC)
presidential candidate, General Muhammadu
Buhari has said
that he has no ambition to impose sharia law on
Nigerians if elected. Adding the it is a constitutional matter “This has been the case since the
1999 Constitution and just as no one can
make any customary or any other religious
law the law of Nigeria, Shariah
cannot therefore be the law of Nigeria,” Buhari said.

Also, Buhari dispelled
insinuations that he is a religious fanatic,
saying, “In all my life, I have never supported
extremism of any kind and nowhere in
my record of service to this nation can this
false this toga which political opponents have
tried so hard to put on me can be
substantiated,”

Buhari said yesterday in
Kaduna in a message he sent at an APC presidential interactive session with religious
leaders.

The programme attracted Muslim and
Christian clerics as well as the party’s Vice
Presidential candidate, Pastor Yemi Osinbajo,
and the APC National Chairman, Chief John
Odigie Oyegun, who read Buhari’s message.

According to Buhari, “wicked propagandists
continue to spread vicious liesabout me for
political gain, including the claim that I once
asked Muslims notto vote for Christians.

“This must be the height of absurdity. How
can I ever say that, when whoever votes for
me would be voting for the Christian running
with me on the same ticket?

“I would like to solemnly declare that in spite
of what our detractors say, Iam not a
religious fanatic of any sort.

“For me, the issue of religion was and should
always be a matter of personalpersonal
conviction and this approach to religion has
defined my work andinteractions all my life, including my tenure in office as military
Head of State.
“The religion of all those I worked with was
never a factor in their progressor in what
happened to them.

“All that mattered then and should still
matter today, are competence,integrity and
readiness to be fair to all.

“Government has no business preferring one
religion to the other as the role
ofgovernment is to protect lives and property
of citizens and to respect andprotect their
constitutional rights.

“One critical freedom that every government
must strive to protect is theliberty for citizens
to exercise their faiths, Christians and
Muslims orothers, in a lawful manner
without fear or hindrance and to prosecute
those whouse religion as an excuse to
destroy homes, schools and places of
worship.”

Newsweb

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