The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Rev Father Mathew Hassan Kukah on Thursday said the Director General of the Tinubu Presidential campaign Governor Simon Lalong has right to his choices to accept the job of pushing for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Kukah said as a lawyer, former Speaker and serving Governor of Plateau State, the Governor must have made his choices consciously adding that no one should begrudge him over his acceptance of the position of the boss of the Tinubu campaign.
Lalong has come under heavy criticisms for accepting to lead the campaign in an arrangement where many Christians have said don’t recognise the sensibilities of the Christian population.
Just on Wednesday, Lalong said the Catholic Pope, who is the Head of the Catholic Church worldwide, has not told him that he is wrong to take the job.
Kukah spoke on a Channels TV live programme on Thursday, Politics Today.
Kukah, who saying the Governor must be left to enjoy his right to freely choose, however added that the Tinubu campaign boss must bear in mind that Nigerians are now sensitive to issues such as religion today more than any other time in the country’s recent political history.
Kukah said if Lalong had consulted him for advice on the issue, he might have had a different position and could have advised him.
He said but it is too late to comment on the Governor’s choices since he has already made them.
The Catholic Bishop also said Nigerians have to keep their eyes on the ball and not be distracted by issues that would make it impossible to monitor the real issues on the next general elections.
“Governor Lalong is a reputable lawyer and was a speaker. He is also the governor of Plateau state. I think we must also not get too over-excited about the kind of choices that people make.
“ The important thing is for us to live with the consequences of the choice that we make. People need to have a chance to make up their minds to know what they want. So, for me, Governor Lalong made a choice. This is not something we should waste so much time on because I think the party has taken a decision. He has accepted the job. He feels very strongly about it and committed. I don’t think that should take anything away from him as a person but that is also not to forget that Christians across this country have become quite sensitive in certain realities,” Kukah said
The cleric said events of the last few years in Nigeria should make Nigerians think deeply about those who should be considered qualified to govern them.
“What has happened in this country in the last few years requires a lot of the hole that we have found ourselves in. Going forward, I think we should begin to push ahead and begin to think much more clearly about who really qualifies to govern us and the choices and decisions that people make are some of the matters we should also pay attention to but let’s not forget the critical question.
“This country is literally on the cliff. We have never been at the kind of position that we are in now. It’s not time to take blames or time to be distracted by things that ought not to worry us. Let’s focus on how best to reposition our country,” he said