The selection of Senator Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno State, as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s running mate for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 presidential election, drew a range of responses yesterday.
Governors chosen on the APC platform, as well as Senate President Ahmad Lawan, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, and other senior APC members, applauded Tinubu’s choice and boasted that Shettima had paved the party’s road to electoral victory.
Edwin Clark, an Ijaw national leader and convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others, criticized Bola Tinubu for running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, pointing out that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. The Ijaw leader claimed that there is a significant religious divide in the nation, and Tinubu’s choice to choose a fellow Muslim as his running-mate will exacerbate the situation.
The leaders of the northern APC’s Christian faction also spoke out, claiming that the Muslim-Muslim ticket would make it difficult for people to believe that the party does not have “Islamization” as one of its primary goals.
“The selection of a Muslim running mate is a display of crass insensitivity to the complexity of modern Nigeria and the entire Church,” they said.
Expectedly, the Muslim-Muslim ticket has sparked a storm of criticism, forcing key figures to leave the APC.
Prince Tonye Princewill, a previous party candidate for governor in Rivers State and a close supporter of the recently-resigned Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, left the party yesterday in vehement protest to this action.
In his letter of resignation from the APC, Ward 3 (Royal Ward) in Buguma city of Asari Toru Council, Tonye stated that he was unable to defend his party’s choice to run a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the face of widespread criticism from well-meaning Nigerians.
“I can’t argue for equity in my state and defend inequity in my country,” Tonye said, adding that under such a situation that the country finds itself presently, he could not continue to remain in a party that is “totally insensitive”, adding that even if APC wins next year’s election, it “will prove bad for good governance.”
This comes a day after Daniel Bwala, another party chieftain, announced his resignation and joined the group of party members who did the same after Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, revealed his running mate.
Bwala highlighted in a message on his Twitter account on Monday that he is leaving the ruling party because of beliefs and ideas that are precious to him. He further stated that at this point, “what Nigeria needs is for us to work towards uniting the country.”
Ishaku Abbo, a senator from Adamawa North Senatorial District, withdrew from a Tinubu support organization after calling Tinubu’s choice of a Muslim as his running partner unwise.
Abbo said: “For Tinubu now to be given the ticket and turn around to do what he couldn’t achieve in 2015, despite opposition from Christian leaders is extremely irresponsible. Buhari fought a civil war and understands the consequences of a divided nation. When Tinubu wanted to be VP in 2015, Buhari said no because he understood the importance of unity.”
After criticizing Tinubu’s decision and pleading with God to “rescue the country from the hands of power grabbers who exalt the pursuit of power above the pursuit of purpose,” prominent Nollywood actor Kenneth Okonkwo resigned from the APC yesterday.
If the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the APC is permitted to run, he claimed, it will forever destroy the political viability of Christians in the North. In the sake of equality, justice, fairness, and peaceful coexistence among Nigerians, he said, he withdrew from the organization.
He said: “These ideals are now alien to the APC, with their unfortunate decision to paint our Muslim brothers in lousy light by insinuating that the Muslims in Nigeria will not accept or vote for a Northern Christian as Vice-President to pair with a Southern Muslim. If Muslims could vote voluntarily for Southern Christian presidents, it is a fallacy to insinuate that they cannot accept Northern Christian Vice-President.”
Former Goodluck Jonathan aide Reno Omokri, a vocal opponent of the APC, has claimed that candidates running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket had never succeeded in becoming Nigeria’s president. He continued by saying that Tinubu’s case would not be an aberration and that previous applicants had either lost or never been sworn in.
On Tuesday, Omokri posted this on his verified Twitter account, @renoomokri.
He tweeted: “Nobody should be too worried about the Tinubu Muslim-Muslim ticket. Everyone who has tried it in Nigeria has either lost or was never sworn in. Everybody. No exception. Yesterday and today are pregnant with what will happen to Tinubu. Nigeria has left that bus-stop!”
He added that Nigeria, currently, is too divided to operate on same religion ticket, with an assertion that the country needs balance and peace.
“Nigeria is too divided for a same religion ticket. It is just like a same sex marriage. As a nation, we are not ready for both same sex marriages and same religion political marriages. Nigeria needs peace. Nigeria needs balance!”
If the Muslim-Muslim ticket is not dropped, Christian political leaders in the 19 Northern states have vowed to stop supporting the party for the general elections.
Professors Doknan Sheni, Ishaya Bauka, and Saudi Ibrahim, three of the leaders, signed a statement that was made accessible to journalists in Kaduna.
The meeting noted with concern the resignation of some high profile Christians from the APC across the country as a consequence, with more to follow 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.
“After extensive deliberations, the meeting came to the conclusion that as Christians within the APC, we cannot in all fairness to our consciences and faith go to our various constituencies to campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Nigeria is a multi-religious and a constitutional democracy, 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.
“If the APC said a Muslim-Muslim ticket would be injurious to the health of our nation in 2015, what has therefore radically changed to make it good for the health of our nation in 2023? That the rejection of a Muslim – Muslim ticket by Christians would undermine the electoral fortunes of the APC and its candidates across all constituencies where Christians enjoy numerical advantage. By so doing APC has recklessly thrown its Christian candidates under the bus.”
However, they pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to take action to resolve the problems before the party was destroyed.
Adamu Garba, a well-known businessman and politician, has rejoined the APC, though. Garba stated yesterday that he has “re-decamped” to the ruling party. Garba made headlines weeks ago when he defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP) over the N100 million nomination form.
He stated that if he does not back the ticket that unites a great tactician and a brilliant strategist, he would really do more damage to Nigeria.
The former candidate for president declared his support for Tinubu and Shettima’s presidential bid.
He also spoke out in favor of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying: “It’s not all together about not having a competent Christian in the North, there are, many of them indeed. But how many of those competent ones are able to build any political capital beyond their immediate environment? Politics is very practical, it’s not about whims.”
Another proponent of the party, Mr. Yekini Nabena, a former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, stated that the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) selection of a presidential candidate from the North was more damaging to Nigeria’s unity than the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Gombe State’s Governor Muhammadu Yahaya called Tinubu’s selection of Shettima a genius move. Ismaila Misilli, the governor’s director general for press affairs, noted in a statement: “As a committed and loyal party man, Shettima is a great asset to the ruling party and will add immeasurable value to the APC presidential ticket.
“Asiwaju will not have made a better choice. The former Borno governor is a highly cerebral, eloquent, competent, courageous and cosmopolitan leader who has succeeded in building bridges, reputation and friendships across the country; and I believe he has the capacity, acumen and political sagacity to deputise the Jagaban,” he added.
