Buhari meets Catholic
Bishops in Abuja, says
he doesn't have any religious agenda.

APC Presidential candidate, Gen. Buhari and
his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo met
with some Catholic Bishops in Abuja yesterday
February 10th. Speaking during the meeting,
Buhari said he had no personal religious
agenda and as a practicing Muslim, he doesn't
share the views of any extremist group. More
pics and what he said after the cut...
Buhari's speech below...

As our nation approaches perhaps the most
crucial election in our history, all true patriots
are called to deeper reflection of the basic
ingredients that bind the nation together- our
common freedom, peace and unity. This
reflection is even more relevant in the face of
the illegal postponement of the general
elections- a feat achieved through various
sinister ploys and with the sole aim of avoiding
the will and verdict of the people. In all of
these, I feel the urgeto communicate some of
my personal vision and thoughts to the people
of our great country, especially on the question
of religion, a sensitive matter for many citizens
that has become the most frequently used tool
by the ruling party. This affordsme an
opportunity to give my response to the ruling
party's false propaganda and lies against my
person.

Needless to say, we must at all times hold the
unity, peace and progress of our dear nation
paramount and above all other considerations,
especially politics. Those who deliberately
disseminate divisive disinformation and
attempt to stoke primordial sentiments using
religion or ethnicity and create fear in the
minds of our people fail the standard of
patriotism this nation demands of them and
deserves from them. The ruling government
and PDP have adopted this sad divisive and
false narrative as their strategy to prevent the
inevitable change that our country and people
desire and require. And they have succeeded in
making some of us victims of the tales which
they invent, propagate and sell as gospel truth
to gullible listeners, while it is all nothing but a
tissue of lies.

I would like to solemnly declare that in spite of
what our detractors say, I am not a religious
fanatic of any sort and I have never been. 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 toga,
political opponents have tried so hard to put
on me, be substantiated. Indeed, it is very
unfortunate and I feel extremely sad that I
have to give this type of assurance.
My background is in the army, and there is no
doubt that the military is the most integrated
pan-Nigerian institution. And even today, the
military is one of the institutions that
represents the pride of our nation's
possibilities in unity. Compatriots from every
corner of this country come together, work and
live together, entrust their lives to each other
and integrate their families. It is a military
where many of my dearest friends, from all
faiths and parts of the country, lost their lives
defending the unity of our nation. That was the
military I served in, and in that military it was
impossible to be a bigot.

For me, the issue of religion was, and should
always, be a matter of personal conviction.
This personal conviction approach to religion
has defined my work and interactions 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
progress or in what happened to them. All that
mattered then, and should still matter today,
are competence, integrity and readiness to be
fair to all.

I was recently informed that we had a
balanced cabinet with key positions such as
Finance, Energy and Defence occupied by
Christians. In addition, 11 of the 19 governors I
appointed were Christians. My most
memorable recollections of subordinate service
was under Christian bosses, the finest our
country had then, and among the most
respected today. Indeed one of the best
appraisals I received in the course of my
military career was from General T.Y Danjuma.
Government has no business preferring one
religion to the other. The role of government is
to protect lives and properties of citizens and
to respect and protect their constitutional
rights. One critical freedom that every
government must strive to protect is the
liberty for citizens to exercise their respective
faiths, Christians and Muslims or others, in a
lawful manner without fear or hindrance and to
prosecute those who use religion as an excuse
to destroy homes, schools and places of
worship. When governments fail in that duty,
they must then assist in the rebuilding of
structures including destroyed places of
worship and giving full restitution for lost
property. We, Nigerians, are a religious people,
and the burning of places of worship
constitutes one of the vilest forms of
abomination to all those who believe in God. It
is the duty of governments to protect this
important sensitivity.

Let me state this categorically, that I,
MuhammaduBuhari, as an individual, and as
president of this great country by the grace of
God, given the opportunity to serve, have no
personal religious agenda. And I will not
entertain, consider or promote the religious
agenda of anyone. I will not condone any
initiative that seeks to promote one religion
over the other. Neither I, nor my party, or any
member of my team has any desire or plan to
Islamize or Christianize Nigeria or support
anyone with such intention.

Although I am a practising Muslim, and I have
been so all my life, I have never belonged to,
nor shared the views of, any extremist group. I
am not even a cleric. I believe that religion is
personal and private. Many of the people close
to me are not of my religion. My cook and
driver for 20 years are Christians, Most of my
bodyguards are Christians. Some were killed
while protecting me in the terrorist attack on
my convoy in Kaduna. If I have not Islamized
these people who serve under me, how will I
Islamize the likes of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun,
Ogbonnaya Onu, Governors RochasOkorocha,
Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Amaechi or Professor
Yemi Osinbajo who is a senior advocate of
Nigeria and a pastor? Or how will I Islamize
Nigeria?

Our constitution, which in many respects, is
similar to the American constitution does not
permit a state religion. The Sharia identified in
the constitution is almost synonymous with
customary law. It is only applicable in matters
of personal status such as marriage, divorce
and inheritance. This has been the case since
the 1979 constitution. Just as no one can
make any customary or any other religious law
the law of Nigeria, so Sharia cannot therefore
be the law of Nigeria.

My record is evidence of this strongly held
belief. Before my tenure, the deadly and violent
extremist radical sect, Maitasine carried out
terrorist activities in the north, especially Kano;
When it erupted again in Yola, during my
tenure, I took direct command, and personally
led the successful effort to eradicate the threat
to our country. Similarly, when some Chadian
insurgents attempted to occupy Nigerian
territory, I led the military confrontation that
eliminated the threat.

For all purposes, we must all learn to live
together as brothers and sisters, because the
problems that bedevil our nation do not
discriminate based on religion or ethnicity.
Poverty and hunger do not know or respect
religion or creed. When a bomb explodes in a
market, it kills and maims without regard for
religion or ethnicity. The millions of the
unemployed youth of our country cut across all
tribes and religions.

Wicked propagandists continue to spread
vicious lies about me for political gain,
including claiming that I once asked Muslims
not to vote for Christians. This must be the
height of absurdity. How could I ever say that,
when whoever voted for me would be voting
for the Christian running with me on the same
ticket? And how could I ever say that of
Christians when my own holy book, the
Qur'an, tells me that in the entire world those
that are nearest in love to me are those who
believe in Jesus Christ [AS]? I ask, who,
intending to win any election, ever does that?
How can I choose southern Christian running
mates [Chuba Okadigbo of blessed memory,
Pastor Tunde Bakare and Pastor
YemiOsinbajo] and with them by my side make
such silly utterances?

Because they have no record, they must seek
to destroy our own; and because they have no
integrity, they feel they must impugn our own.
We must reject those who propagate hatred,
ethnicity, divisiveness, sectionalism or seek to
manipulate our religious differences in such
cynical fashion. On our part, we will remain
undeterred: our commitment is to bring about
change in the way we live and think and work
in this nation; and our goal is to ensure a
decent existence for all. And, by the Grace of
God, that is what we will do--we will remain
true to our commitment and we will achieve
our goal.

May God bless Nigeria and its people for all
time.
General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR

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If he has will he tell dem?