Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has said those who are against him now will be the same people to sing his praises comes 2023 presidential election.

Bishop Kukah said this on Sunday in a virtual interview with academic and historian, Toyin Falola.

He worried that religion has become a hostage to the political forces, adding that faith without reason breeds religious extremism and a situation where people kill in the name of God.

 “Nigerian politics as you can see from Okija to other places has become so highly spiritualise and this is what happens in an environment when there are no predictors, there are no signs. Nigerian politician don’t believe they can just win an election by fighting hard so, they are expecting you to pray for success of their political enterprise.

“It is not about electoral outcomes or how well electoral laws are; it is that we are operating in an environment that is so dubiously spiritual. The challenge for us as spiritual leaders is to maintain the integrity of faith. I have a bit of experience but I am happy and lucky that I have been able to go from one generation to the other, from one administration to the other because you have to be careful of the choices that you make.

“There are lots of people who are unhappy with me today but I can tell you after 2023, the same people who are unhappy with me today will be the ones who will be singing my praises. The same people who are singing my praises today, if they come to power, they will be the ones who will cast me out.

“I am happy with that label because it suggests a certain kind of neutrality and this is where we should be going. Religion ought to be protected from contamination by the power of the state,” the cleric said.