Mr Realwan Okpanachi, the Director-General, Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as a political calculation for success.
Okpanachi who explained this on Sunday in Lokoja, said it was never meant to insult Christians.
He spoke at a reception organised in his honour following his appointment as Director-General, Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, and Town Hall meeting on Asiwaju/Shettima policy document, tagged Renewed Hope 2023.
The Abuja based legal practitioner said that there were many Christians of good faith and conscience supporting him, because Asiwaju cannot be pinned to a religion or ethnicity.
“I am a Christian and the speakers that came for this programme are Christians.
“Tinubu is a man that has lived above board, he is a man that has built a very solid bridge across the divide of religion or ethnicity.
“He is a man that has been married for over 40 years to a Christian and Senior Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church Of God (RCCG).
“All his children are Christians and he is a man that has appointed many Christians into his cabinet as governor of Lagos State,” he said.
Okpanachi also declared that Asiwaju “is a very good friend of the Christian community and because of that Nigerians don’t have any fear and those that are touting Muslim-Muslim ticket are mischief makers fighting for their own selfish and ugly interests”.
According to him, majority of Nigerians appreciate the reasons behind the decision for Muslim-Muslim ticket and “we don’t see it as an affront on the Christian community”.
Speaking in same vein, the Chairman of the occasion, retired Col. Suleiman Babanawa, said the choice of Shettima as Asiwaju’s running mate was a wise one and based purely on political consideration.
He said that politics was a game of numbers and that there was a great difference between competence and political value.
“Would you rather lose millions of votes from Borno for few thousands from certain states because of religion or ethnicity? It’s a pure political calculation and it has nothing to do with either despising or spiting Christians.
He said that God would plant Sen. Oluremi Tinubu as “Queen Esther of our time”, to open doors of Aso Rock for the people of this country.
“Asiwaju/Shettima ticket is the best for Nigeria because at the end of the day, if we are to emancipate Nigerians, the rich, the poor, the downtrodden, all we need is a man who has a capacity and a pair that is compatible and can win elections.
“If you want good governance take Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima; if you want good security, think Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima.
“If you want a complete emancipation and something to hand over to the next generation let us think about a man who has a capacity.”
According to him, “Barrister Realwan Okpanachi is an exceptional young man who has caught a niche of excellence for himself.
“He is not among the group of lazy Nigerian youths, he is one who has distinguished himself by pure dint of hard work and doggedness. I appreciate him. He’s an ideal son and I love him.”
Prof. Adamu Usman, the Chairman of Universal Basic Education (UBE) Board and former SA to the President on Legal Matters, Research and Documentation, reviewed the policy documents of Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023.
Usman urged youths not to take politics as a profession and diligently pursue their career or vocation and play politics as part time activity rather than taking it as a profession.
He said that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration would focus on security and deploy modern technologies to check activities of criminals, adding that “when the risk of apprehension is higher, people will be forced to behave themselves”.
Various speakers at the occasion eulogised Okpanachi as a young man, who has distinguished himself through dint of hard work in his legal profession and political landscape.
Discussion about this post