A coalition of Christians of Northern Extraction in the All Progressive Congress (APC) has described as unacceptable the decision of the party on Muslim-Muslim presidential tickets ahead of the 2023 general election.
The organisation, which comprised Christian politicians in the 19 northern states within the APC, said they would not go against their conscience and faith, and go to their various constituencies to campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
This was noted in a communique issued on Tuesday in Abuja after its meeting, which discussed the issues of the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket and the implications to the nation, signed by its Chairman, Prof. Doknan Sheni, and Secretary-General, Ishaya Bauka.
Recall, the APC 2023 presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had on Sunday announced Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
While describing the development as unacceptable, the coalition said 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 communique 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?”
They warned of serious and grave consequences if the selection of a Muslim vice-presidential candidate was 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,” the coalition said.
