Nigerian gay rights activist, Bisi Alimi, has slammed the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, over her stance on homosexuality.

Alimi said Ezekwesili cannot use religion to rule Nigeria.

The presidential candidate had on Friday tweeted that although she does not support homosexuality, she would give everyone including gays and lesbians, equal opportunity if she is elected as President in 2019.

She wrote: “So, my response to a question at Chatham House has been misconstrued and totally taken out of context by some folks.

“Bisi Alimi asked me a question on the discrimination he suffered as a gay citizen of Nigeria. I responded that as president of Nigeria, I shall uphold the basic human rights of every Nigerian.

“This in no way equates or translates to me supporting or approving gay rights. It appears that some people are genuinely confusing constitutional rights due to everyone regardless of their social orientation as gay rights. That is not correct.”

But in a swift reaction to Ezekwesili’s tweets, Bisi wrote: “When a leader of a country of 180m people with a potential of 18-20m of them being LGBT go on social media to make this statement, it should take us to a place of reflection.

“Sexuality is not a choice, faith is. No one is born Christian, Muslim or anything else but at birth we all have sexuality and if you think being gay is a choice, then so is being straight.

“You can not use your religion to rule a secular state.”