Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai said 2023 is the time to punish politicians, who are dividing Nigerians along religious lines. 

El-Rufai stated this at the commissioning ceremony of the head office of the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development.

According to him, the 2023 elections present Nigerians with the opportunity to take religion out of politics.

The governor, on Tuesday, asked royal fathers and scholars to pray for credible elections and improved security.

He said, “I want to use the opportunity to call on our leaders here, the royal fathers, our scholars to continue to pray for peaceful and credible elections, continue to pray for improved security in our country and for Allah to choose for this country who is the best leaders that will unite and move the country forward.

“I am concerned as a citizen, as a governor and as a Muslim about the way and manner some of the politicians have gone about campaigning using religion and ethnic division as a tool. And your Eminence I think this election causes for us a very unique opportunity to take religion out of politics in Nigeria and punish those that are trying to use religion as a tool,” he said.

The Kaduna governor also appealed to the royal fathers and scholars to communicate to the people in order to ensure that future elections do not centre around religion but around what a person can do to improve the lot of ordinary people.

He said, “Our people are united in their poverty, in their need for education, for a decent healthcare and to put food on their table, that is what unites us, that is what we should focus on. 

But some people are campaigning in churches, some are holding internal meetings with religious leaders to promote ethnic and religious division, it is the last thing Nigeria needs now at a time when the whole world is facing challenges ultra-nationalism and global supply chain disruption,” El-Rufai added.

VANGUARD