Vice-President Namadi Sambo

The All Progressives Congress has accused Vice-President Namadi Sambo and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, of using religion to divide Nigerians.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, said Sambo, while addressing PDP supporters in Kaduna, said the APC was pushing a Christian agenda and should be rejected at the polls because its vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has “5,000 churches.”

The APC said, “It must baffle every right-thinking Nigerian what the vice-president stands to gain by his resort to basic instincts. It is more baffling against the background of the fact that it was his party, the PDP, that first labelled our party, the APC, as a Muslim party.

“Not even when the APC elected a Christian as its National Chairman, supported by many party officials who are also Christians, did they back off from their incautious claim. It did not occur to them that our party is more religiously diverse than they have sought to portray it to Nigerians.”

The party urged voters not to be swayed by those who were using religion as a campaign tool.

It said some unscrupulous politicians had already begun distributing leaflets portraying the APC as a religious intolerant party.

It said, “They are hoping that by further inflaming passion with the highly emotive issue of religion, they can revive their shrivelling political fortunes. That is why they have devised the latest strategy of pitting Christians against Moslems through the circulation of satanic leaflets. Nigerians should not be taken in by this cheap plot.

“We ask Nigerians to disregard anyone peddling religion as a tool for securing votes in any part of the country. Faith is a personal thing to individuals and no responsible government will seek to use religion to divide the people.”