{"id":90099,"date":"2023-06-16T20:48:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T19:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president"},"modified":"2023-06-16T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T21:55:23","slug":"shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president","title":{"rendered":"Shettima apologises for demanding Christian Senate President"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Vice-President Kashim Shettima has apologised for asking lawmakers to elect a Christian Senate President for the 10th National Assembly.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the election, Shettima said: \u201cUnder the current dispensation, the worst incompetent Southern Christian is better than the most puritanical Northern Muslim for the Presidency of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments stirred up controversy and outrage, especially on social media and among the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

However, speaking with BBC Hausa, Shettima insisted his comments were misinterpreted and that he had no intention of defaming his religion.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThe comment I made is for the benefit of Nigeria but was misinterpreted. I received confidential intelligence reports that are not suitable for public disclosure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sincerely did not have any intention to cause harm to any individual or the Islamic religion. However, being an imperfect human being, I seek forgiveness from the community and from my Lord. I pledge that I will never reiterate such words again, as I am a devout Muslim, and my family lineage has faithfully followed the path of Islam for more than 1,400 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo anyone who was hurt by my statement, I apologise, as it was never my intention to disparage any religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Godswill Akpabio, a Christian from Akwa-Ibom North-West, has since been elected as Senate President.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Vice-President Kashim Shettima has apologised for asking lawmakers to elect a Christian Senate President for the 10th National Assembly. Ahead of the election, Shettima said: \u201cUnder the current dispensation, the worst incompetent Southern Christian is better than the most puritanical Northern Muslim for the Presidency of the Senate of the Federal Republic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":90098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1570,2140,254,702,1837],"class_list":["post-90099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria","tag-senate-president","tag-shettima"],"yoast_head":"\nShettima apologises for demanding Christian Senate President - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vice-President Kashim Shettima has apologised for asking lawmakers to elect a Christian Senate President for the 10th Na ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shettima apologises for demanding Christian Senate President\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vice-President Kashim Shettima has apologised for asking lawmakers to elect a Christian Senate President for the 10th Na ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-16T19:48:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-16T21:55:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/sm_1686936217.116353.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Shettima apologises for demanding Christian Senate President\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-16T19:48:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-16T21:55:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\"},\"wordCount\":235,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2023\/06\/sm_1686936217.116353.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Nigeria\",\"senate president\",\"Shettima\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/shettima-apologises-for-demanding-christian-senate-president\",\"name\":\"Shettima apologises for demanding Christian Senate President - 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