Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, says Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), will oversee the Aso Rock chapel if her husband is elected president.
The minister said this on Political Paradigm, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday.
Keyamo, who doubles as spokesman of the Bola Tinubu Campaign Council, made the comment in reaction to the party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Tinubu had picked Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno who’s also a Muslim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election. The development elicited outrage from key stakeholders, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
But Keyamo said the decision of the party is a strategy for winning the 2023 presidential election.
He said the presidential candidate’s family had always been multi-religious.
“It has nothing to do with unity, it’s just a winning strategy,” he said.
“It’s not a spit on the Christians. Muslims are a minority in the south and Asiwaju is Muslim from the south. Some Muslims are a minority in the north.
“Like I said, look at Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a person. Look at his record. He was one that returned all the mission schools to them in Lagos when he was governor.
“For the churches, he returned the mission schools to them. He has a multi-religious home. Some of his children are Christians. His wife is a pastor.
“The chapel in the villa will be overly used because the wife automatically will be the pastor, attending that chapel. So the chapel will not be closed down. He will be using it when he is by the grace of God president of this country.”
In 2018, Tinubu’s wife, who is currently the senator representing Lagos central, was ordained as assistant pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
