Christians have equal rights as Muslims - Governor Bala Mohammed tells Bauchi residents

Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has said that Christians have equal rights as their Muslim counterparts which should be respected.

Mohammed said this when the state Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Abraham Damina, led the Christian communities on a Christmas homage to him in Bauchi on Saturday.

The governor said there was exclusion of Christians in governance in the past but he decided to include more Christians in his administration to show appreciation and respect for the communities in the state.

He expressed satisfaction with the performance of Christians in his administration.

“I noticed there is a lot of exclusion and decided to include more Christians in my administration.

“I’m happy that during our tenure, we are deepening inclusion and we are creating love as well as breaking all the barriers that are preventing us from embracing each other in fraternity.

“We are building some huge Churches as we are building Mosques because I have discovered that you have equal rights and you must be respected.

“I assure you we are not going to allow anybody to use our communities anymore in order to get cheap popularity,” the governor said.

He promised to give more slots to the coming christian pilgrimage to make them happy and to show that the government is grateful.

Mohammed said his administration would ensure that a situation where some civil servants were deliberately removed from the payroll would soon be a thing of the past.

He said that the state government had enforced the spirit of autonomy for the local governments, adding that they were given all their resources and had started paying salaries since November.