The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate for the 2023 general elections, Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have lost the support of Christian leaders in the Northern region, ahead of next year’s polls.
This is following the nomination of Senator Kashim Shettima, ex-Borno governor and a Muslim, as running mate to Tinubu, former governor of Lagos and also a Muslim.
The Christian leaders in the nineteen Northern states of the nation and the FCT have now rejected the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying they do not support it.
They accused the party of displaying “crass insensitivity to the complexity of modern Nigeria and the entire Church” by selecting a Muslim as Tinubu’s running mate.
According to the Christian leaders, the development had denied them the opportunity to meet their people and campaign for the party in 2023.
The Northern Christians Coalition maintained that they would not go against their conscience and faith, and go to their various constituencies to campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
In a communiqué, yesterday, signed by Prof. Doknan Sheni and Prof. Saidu Ibrahim, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the group warned that the Muslim-Muslim ticket will have grave consequences.
Describing the development as unacceptable, the Christian leaders maintained that Nigeria remained a multi-religious and constitutional democracy and not a theocracy, adding that the current political atmosphere of the nation was different from what occurred in 1993.
The communiqué read, “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 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 Christian candidates in the 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 Muslim in the North be able to sell the APC presidential ticket to any Muslim ummah?.
“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.”
