The Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket put up by the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2023 general elections has been warned against by a coalition of Christians of Northern descent.
In fairness to their consciences and beliefs, the alliance of Christian lawmakers in the 19 Northern States of the APC claimed they could not visit their separate areas to campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
This was stated by the group in a communique that was released on Tuesday in Abuja at the conclusion of a meeting about the problems with party Muslim-Muslim tickets and their effects on the country. The communique was signed by the group’s chairman, Prof. Doknan Sheni, and secretary, General Ishaya Bauka.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, named Kashim Shettima as his running mate on Sunday.
The coalition referred to the development as deplorable while asserting that Nigeria is a multireligious constitutional democracy and not a theocracy and that the country’s present political climate differs from that of 1993.
The communique reads: “The selection of a Muslim vice presidential candidate portrayed insensitivity to the Christians in the Nation. The fear of the Christians in the north and the nation in general is that the APC party will be viewed as an Islamic party and the Muslim – Muslim ticket was not possible in 2015, why should it be possible in 2023?
“More so, that we are apprehensive that the person picked might have had a hand in the chibok girls Saga and other terror activities. Muslim – Muslim ticket would undermine the election chances of Christians candidates in APC in the various states in the North. The Christians in the north and the whole nation are highly aggravated
“Considering that the chairman of the party is a Muslim, deputy chairman north is a Muslim, the president of the senate is a Muslim, the speaker and deputy speaker are Muslims, and now both the presidential and Vice presidential candidates are Muslims and apart from this violating the constitution section 14 subsection 3, if this was to be reversed that all these were Christians, can any Moslem in the North be able to sell the APC presidential tickets to any Muslim ummah?
They warned of serious and grave consequences if the selection of a Muslim vice Presidential candidate is not changed, maintaining that “at this moment of national peril, what should be paramount in Nigeria is unity and not infrastructure or economy”
“For without unity we cannot build. Any party or candidate that elevates the greed of a few above the needs of the many has no business running the affairs of Nigeria.”
