Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has enjoined religious leaders across the country to shun selfish and mischievous politicians that hide under the guise of religion and ethnicity to divide the people during elections.
He said there was a need for clerics to avoid politicians that have lost power and are now whipping up all sorts of sentiments against the government of the day.
Speaking during a dinner breaking fast held in Kaduna, Shehu Sani said that poverty and hunger have been so weaponised to control the masses for self aggrandizement.
He advised that clerics should use places of worship to preach messages of peace and unity as well as enlighten adherents on the power of voting good leaders during elections, believing that democracy can only survive if there is equity, justice, progress and development.
Sani said that the country does not belong to one ethnic group, stressing that, “Power has resided so long in the north that it has become so toxic.”
He added, “Power in the North has not helped Northerners, the region is still backward in all aspects of human and capital development.”
He advised northerners who are ganging up against President Tinubu to instead support the government in the interest of progress and development of the north as opposed to the quest for return of power to the region.
He explained that politicians that have failed to secure appointments under the Tinubu-led government cannot manipulate them for personal interest, saying that they had lost their sense of entitlements and were now trying to whip up sentiments of some kind so as to be relevant.
On issues of security and economy, Senator Sani blamed former President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to improve on the economy and ensure adequate security of lives and property of the citizens, alleging that the whole security apparatus was controlled by northerners and Muslims, yet banditry and terrorism thrived.
Shehu said that many parents were afraid to send their children to school for the fear of being kidnapped, stressing that mosques have been raided and imams kidnapped or killed by bandits.