The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, have accused Goodluck Jonathan of dividing Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines.
According to The Nation, Tinubu spoke in Amuwo Odofin in Lagos during a rally in support of the APC Lagos State governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode. Oshiomhole, in his turn, spoke while receiving hundreds of defectors to the APC in Edo State.
Tinubu called on the electorate to vote out the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on March 28 as the party is using religion and ethnicity to polarise the country.
“The over 15 years of PDP rule in the country merely points to failure. Jonathan tells you a pathetic story that when he was in school he had no shoe. ‘I am from a poor family; I know what poverty is’; now he has forgotten.
“Now he has plenty shoes, plenty clothes and plenty hats, but does that put gari on your table? If you spend five hours at the gas station without light for your business, is that what we want? They even ask you to pay for the electricity that you did not use. So, that is double jeopardy, by paying for diesel that you did not consume and electricity that was never utilised by you. In that situation, do you want them to continue?
“In our schools in Lagos, did we register you on the basis of your tribe? Did we discriminate in our school fees? I am sure you are all aware of how we do things in Lagos. We believe we are the same, so we treat everybody equally. After six years, they have not been able to do anything meaningful for the people.
“It is time for them to leave, to allow those with ideas and capability to lead the country. They do not have the skills to run effective government, so they need to go back and take the position of apprenticeship,” he said.
Continuing his speech, Tinubu declaimed against ethnicism by saying:
“God decided the language you speak and the tribe you were born in to. It is not your choice; it is the choice of God. When you get to the hospital do you see Christian or Muslim section? Do you see Igbo, Yoruba or Ijaw ward? We are one people.
“Does hunger or poverty have tribal mark? Can you go to an Igbo bread seller and say I am an Igbo man, I need bread? Can you go to a Yoruba woman selling roasted plantain and tell her to give you one because you are a Yoruba person? The road is not labeled Muslim, Christian, or Obatala road? Let not these people continue to deceive us.
“Those of you travelling with flights; for instance Dubai, when you want to board the plane, do you ask about the name, tribe or religion of the pilot. All you simply do is to pray to God for a safe flight.”
According to Oshiomhole, the PDP is in desperation, therefore, it has bought some church leaders to preach against the APC and taint it as a Muslim party.
Edo state governor called on the PDP not to polarise the country along religious lines, saying it is dangerous for the country.
In his statement Oshiomhole warned Nigerians that the PDP had made copies of a documentary which had been distributed in churches to assure people that Muhammau Buhari would Islamise the country if voted as the President.
“Some pastors after collecting money are now preaching that Buhari wants to convert the nation to Islam. When Buhari was Head of State with absolute power, did he convert Nigeria to Islam? Did he convert Dodan Barracks to Islam enclave? Are there not Christian Generals all over the place?
“The issue of this election is not about religion or tribe. It is about who has what it takes to repair our country. It is about who will give us light. If PDP couldn’t give us light in 16 years, shouldn’t we give it to someone else? Take a critical look at this election, when NEPA takes light, do they segregate between Christians and Muslims? When they bring fixed charges, do they differentiate between Christians and Moslem? Are both Christians and Moslems not suffering the inefficiency of PDP’s 16 years of mis-governance?
“They are saying APC is a Muslim party. How can a party that parades Christians, such as me, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and many others, be described as a Moslem party? Now let’s look at it, if Nigeria’s problem is about religion, since 1999 till now, Christians have ruled the nation for 14 years, how come if it is really about religion that despite ruling for 14 years, Nigeria that ought to be like heaven is still like hell?
“Nobody should use God’s name to deceive the people. The matter of governance is not about what you claim but about the state of your heart. In this state, from 1999 till now, all those that have governed Edo State are all Christians yet those that governed from 1999 till 2007 did nothing. Are we not all Christians but is it all of us that worked? They even stole from church because when you do not pay salaries for three months can the workers pay their tithe?”
Finishing his statement Oshiomhole stressed that in Edo state Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers live together in peace and harmony.
Speaking at the APC Rally in Lagos, Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, announced that seven PDP governors would join the APC.
