Adamawa senator, Elisha Abbo, has withdrawn from the Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation over the decision of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to pick a Muslim as his running mate.
Mr Tinubu had on Sunday in Daura, Katsina State, announced Kashim Shettima, a Muslim and former Borno State governor, as his running mate.
In a statement later, he explained that he listened to arguments from both faiths, but that he settled for the former Borno governor based on competence.
Mr Abbo, in a statement on Monday, described the choice of Mr Shettima, as “irresponsible”, noting that he cannot in good conscience campaign for the former Lagos State governor.
Mr Abbo said the APC presidential candidate discarded a report submitted to him on a possible Christian running mate.
The lawmaker, who is infamous for assaulting a woman in a toy shop, said Mr Tinubu prioritised political survival over stability and peace of the country.
“It is very irresponsible of Tinubu to take his political survival over the stability and peace of Nigeria.
“For Tinubu now to be given the ticket and turn around to do what he couldn’t achieve in 2015 despite opposition from Catholics and other Christian leaders is extremely irresponsible.
“We sat down in Abuja and strategised, and we concluded that he should not take a Muslim as running mate. He (Tinubu) threw away the report,” he said.
Mr Abbo added that as a member of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), he is of the opinion that a government of same faith is “illegitimate”.
“My conscience will not allow me to campaign for Tinubu. I am a member of CAN; I cannot deny CAN. I remain in APC. But I will take the survival of my country first over political considerations.
“We cannot work for such a man. I will oppose Christian-Christian ticket because I am invested in the stability of this country. A Christian-Christian ticket will be insensitive to Muslims of this country. The country is evenly divided among Muslims and Christians. So any government that is Muslim-Muslim will be illegitimate and will never gain the respect of Christians.”
