By 
… As Babachir warns Tinubu
Abiodun OBA
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has warned political parties in the country against the idea of Muslim-Muslim presidential tickets.
According to CAN, Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in 2023 is a threat to the fragile peace and unity of Nigeria, adding that the outcome of the proposal will be worse.
The apex Christian body gave the warning in a statement on Friday by its National Secretary, Barrister Joseph Bade Daramola, titled, ‘Christian Association of Nigeria Rejects Proposed Muslim/Muslim Presidential Ticket in 2023’.
CAN said with the country’s trajectory and its challenges, it was important for the nation’s political parties not to further polarise the country by opting for Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim presidential tickets.
The statement read, “The Christian Association of Nigeria has once again warned the leading political parties to bury the thought of Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket in 2023. We want to unequivocally state that it is a threat to the fragile peace and unity of Nigeria.
“We congratulate the Presidential Candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the opposition People’s Democratic Party, the Labour Party: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi respectively, including other parties that are participating in the forthcoming Presidential election.
“CAN urges that a balance of both religious practitioners be considered in the choice of running mates of the presidential candidates. We do not subscribe to Christian/Christian ticket or Muslim/Muslim ticket. Politicians can talk politics but we have stated our view long before now.
“Any party that tries same religion ticket will fail. This is not 1993. Even when we have joint Muslim/Christian ticket, the church still goes through hell. Only God knows the number of Christians that have been killed in the last seven years with no one apprehended or prosecuted.
“Imagine how bad it will be if we have two Muslims in power? The extant Nigerian Constitution promotes religious balance. So, if any political party wants to try a Muslim/Muslim ticket, it’s at its own peril. CAN is only forewarning but will make a categorical statement in the event our warning is not heeded.
“The Presidential running mate for the APC presidential flag bearer, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu should be a Christian from the North, Atiku’s running mate should be a Christian from the South while Obi should choose his own among the Muslims from the North.
“Anything contrary to the above means that the leadership of these political parties do not bother about the unity of this entity called Nigeria.
“Those who are planning Muslim/Muslim ticket should also find out what was the outcome of MKO Abiola and Kingibe ticket in 1993. If they try Muslim/Muslim ticket this time around, the outcome will be worse because our fault lines are very visible.
There is no party that has no great, good and patriotic Christians who can preside over the affairs of this nation not to talk of being the Vice President as some mischievous people are trying to say. If merit and competence are used as yardsticks, we have many qualified Christians in all the 774 Local Government Areas of this country.
In the ongoing dispensation, CAN leadership cried in vain to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to break the monopoly or dominance of the security architecture with people of same faith. We are all seeing the outcome now. It is obvious that the Nigeria of today is different from that of 1993. Our politicians should stop flouting the Constitution by respecting the North and South dichotomy and religious factor.
“To those arguing that people do not care about the religions of their leaders once they are competent and credible, we dare APC to pick its presidential running mate from the South and PDP pick its own from the North and see what follows.
“When the late sage, Papa Obafemi Awolowo picked Chief Mrs Oyibo Odinamadu, a fellow Christian and Southerner, as his running mate in 1979, we all know the consequences of his performance in the North. Our politicians should be doing what will unite us instead of what will further polarise the country.”
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been cautioned to beware of settling for a Muslim vice president choice.
A staunch ally of Tinubu, Mr Babachir David Lawal, and former secretary to the Government of the Federation( SGF) gave the advice on Thursday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
According to Lawal, thinking of a Muslim president and a Muslim vice president in the country in 2023 is dead on arrival.
“You can have the best ticket but if you don’t win the election, it’s a waste of time,” Lawal declared.
“So, we must bear in mind that the vice (presidential candidate) is going to contribute to winning that election.”
“Extending that consideration to the Muslim-Muslim ticket, I live among the Christians, and I know that among the Christians, the question of Muslim-Muslim ticket is a no-go area; it is dead on arrival.
“Buhari himself, even at that time, had to drop this present presidential candidate because of that tension of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, and we have not seen anything in the country that has changed significantly to allow that to happen. On the contrary, it has worsened,” he added.
Following the emergence of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, a Muslim, as the party’s presidential candidate, there have been debates over who would be his running mate.
As the search for the ruling party’s vice-presidential candidate intensifies, the APC has been warned against nominating a Muslim for that position.
According to Lawal, a political party is in the business of winning elections, and to win elections, one must get the votes to beat the opponents.
He stressed the need for the party to make the necessary considerations before choosing its vice president ahead of the coming polls.
“The religious divide has increased, the tribal division has increased, the regional division has increased,” said the former SGF. “So, it will be a good thing if APC will settle for a Muslim-Christian ticket because we know the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that is what they will do.”
Asked if he would like to be Tinubu’s running mate, he said, “God has not told me to aspire for that position. If you reach the level of Christianity that I am, you should be able to seek God’s opinion on everything that you do and get the indication.
“I will consider it. I have been in government before, and I have not seen any personal merit or advantage to me being in government. Since I left government, I have had a very good life and basically, a businessperson, and I have lived well. I am happy, my children are happy.”
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