By Kenneth Atavti
Christian leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC in northern Nigeria have rejected the Muslim-Muslim ticket of its presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu.
Their rejection was contained in an 11-point communique jointly signed by Prof. Doknan Sheni, Dr. Ishaya Bauka, and Prof. Saidu Ibrahim, after its meeting on Monday in Abuja
The leaders who spoke on behalf of the 19 northen states, expressed worry that the Muslim-Muslim ticket may be injurious to the country’s coexistence, adding that it may further confirm the suspected islamization agenda of the party in the minds of Nigerians.
The northern Christian leaders feared that more high profile resignations may soon hit the party, “unless concerted efforts are made to redeem our Party from hate mongers and those who seek to exploit religion to perpetuate their self-interests as opposed to national interest”.
“Nigeria is a multi-religious and a constitutional democracy and NOT a theocracy with religion as a major national fault line which cannot be whimsically manipulated without dire political consequences on our peaceful co-existence as a people.
“The current Nigerian environment and political atmosphere of the nation is different from what occurred in 1993 and therefore a Muslim – Muslim ticket is unacceptable. It doesn’t take the smart to know that the Abiola/Kingibe victory in 1993 turned out to be a pyrrhic victory as there was never a President Abiola nor vice President Kingibe. Is that what we want a repeat of in 2023?
“The selection of a Muslim running mate is a display of crass insensitivity to the complexity of modern Nigeria and the entire Church. It is also a betrayal of the advocates of unity and peaceful co-existence with our Muslim brothers including notable Imams who had forewarned the Party and the candidate from traveling that treacherous route,” part of the Communique read.
It added that, “the rejection of a Muslim – Muslim ticket by Christians would undermine the electoral fortunes of the APC and its candidates across all States and constituencies where Christians enjoy numerical advantage. By so doing APC has recklessly thrown its Christian candidates under the bus across the nation.
“That considering the fact that PMB, the chairman of the party, deputy chairman north, the president of the senate, the speaker and deputy speaker, and now both the presidential candidate and his running mate; etc, are all Muslims, and assuming that such lopsidedness does not violate S.14 (3) of the Constitution: if this was to be reversed so that all these were Christians, can any contentious Muslim in Nigeria attempt to sell such patently unjust and unfair arrangements to the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria?”
To salvage the situation, the group thus called on President Muhammadu Buhari “being also the Leader of APC”, “to intervene in this matter in order to ensure justice, equity and fair play in the interest of the peace and stability of this great nation and save our party from disintegration. We believe that PMB who fought to keep Nigeria one, will not allow fanatics on both sides to wreak havoc on what remains of the tapestry that binds us a people. We can avoid the dire political consequences of the contraption called “same faith ticket”.
