Erstwhile chieftain of All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Retired Air Vice Marshal Frank Ajobena, who last week quit the APC in protest against the decision of the party’s presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to settle for a Muslim-Muslim Vice Presidential ticket, has clarified that he is “not a religious bigot.”
He made the assertion in a signed statement made available to journalists in Warri on Monday, noting that he remained “an unalloyed advocate of secularism as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
AVM Ajobena, a former national caucus member of the APC, stated that “the clarification has become necessary to further disabuse the minds of critics who are thinking that I am an anti-Islam crusader.”
He insisted that he was “for anything that will better the nation’s democratic system.”
AVM Ajobeba, who was the first Military Administrator of Abia State, further affirmed that he had always been at the forefront of ensuring the actualisation of the political dispensation.
He declared, “I wish to categorically state that I hold no malice against any region or religious beliefs. I remain an unalloyed advocate of secularism as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The former Air Vice Marshal explained that he had earlier sent a congratulatory message to Senator Kashim Shettima for the landslide victory of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he (Tinubu) emerged as the APC Presidential candidate at the party’s primaries.
Ajobena reproduced the message, “This extra-ordinary victory would not have been possible without the exceptional salesmanship which you exhibited in articulating the virtues embedded in the man (Tinubu).
“During the campaigns, I listened to your presentation at the interactive session with the Delta State statutory delegates in Asaba and your outing on the Channels television were quite convincing. Unfortunately the delegates were denied participation at the primaries
“However, I look forward to partnering with you in a more active role as we enter the general election campaigns phase of the presidential contest.”
