TheCable

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria has got to a stage where religion has become a major determining factor and no party should pick a candidate and running mate of the same faith.

He said unlike the past when attention was not really paid to issues of such nature, the country has got to a stage where sentiment is being put into consideration in the process of decision making.

He therefore warned politicians against fielding candidates of the same religion for the offices of president and vice-president during the forthcoming general election.

“It will be insensitive to the point of absurdity for any leader or any political party to be toying with Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket at this juncture,” he said in a statement.

“The idea of proselytisation in any form is a grave danger that must not be contemplated by any serious-minded politician at this delicate situation in Nigeria, as this time is different from any other time.”

He further advised politicians to work towards the progress and development of the country.

Obasanjo’s statement came after Muhammadu Buhari, a presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), told TheCable he is not opposed to the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“I have not absolutely closed my mind to picking a Christian or Muslim as running mate if I get the ticket. Because I firmly believe that Nigerians, having gone through what they have gone through, realise it is not a matter of religion, but a matter of Nigeria,” he said.

“And the main religions, Christianity and Islam, they know and they believe in the Almighty God. The question of stealing and short-changing people in the name of religion should stop.”