Your religion won’t determine your place in my government — Tinubu
The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu said his administration will assemble people to work with based on their competence and performance.
Tinubu dismissed the talk about a government of national unity saying he seeks to run a government of national competence without giving consideration to religious sentiments.
The president-elect, who won the February 25 presidential election via a Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said this in a statement sent to Pulse by his media team on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
In the statement titled, “Nigeria: At the Cusp of Renewed Hope,’’ Tinubu said he has accepted the task before him, adding that his government would assemble competent young people and women across the country to work for the country.
He said, “As your incoming president, I accept the task before me. There have been talks of a government of national unity. My aim is higher than that. I seek a government of national competence. In selecting my government, I shall not be weighed down by considerations extraneous to ability and performance.
“The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous and just Nigeria. There shall be young people. Women shall be prominent. Whether your faith leads you to pray in a church or mosque will not determine your place in government. Character and competence will.’’
On nation-building, the former governor of Lagos state expressed his readiness to hit the ground running without fretting over the enormity of the task before him.
He said, “We must begin to repair and rebuild this national home of ours. There is time to complete the task, but time is also of the essence. We must not tarry or fret over the enormity of what we face. We are able of mind and body. Now, we must show the spirit and willpower to accomplish the historic things that lie within our grasp.’’
According to him, securing the country and making it prosperous are among his top priorities. He said Nigeria cannot afford to sacrifice these goals to political expediencies, adding that whims of politics must take a backseat for governance to be prioritised.
