The Muslim-Muslim Presidency of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been referred to as a sectional national ideology by young APC members operating under the banner of North-Central Progressives Youth (NCPY).
The young people expressed this during a demonstration that lasted from the Unity Fountain to the Presidential Villa.
Speaking to reporters, NCPY President Musa Attah said that Kashim Shettima’s selection as the party’s vice presidential candidate was a mistake. Shettima was the former governor of Borno State.
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The selection of Shettima, according to Attah, would make it more difficult for the party’s presidential candidate Bola Tinubu to win the 2023 election.
He urged Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos, to drop Shettima as his running mate by describing him as a man who is adored and beloved by Nigerians.
For the benefit of the party and Nigeria, Attah encouraged President Muhammadu Buhari to persuade Tinubu to appoint a Christian to succeed Shettima.
According to the NYCPY, Tinubu has proven his ability over the years and is well-positioned to continue Buhari’s legacy.
“Tinubu’s alliance with Shettima may just be his undoing,” stated Attah. The same-faith ticket ignores the fragility of the nation and would further polarize it in the face of unparalleled division. The Constitution’s Sections 14 and 15 discuss federal character. Is choosing a Muslim-Muslim ticket consistent with that Federal Character? You can’t come to equality with dirty hands, as the saying goes in law. To achieve equity, one must act ethically. Is that Muslim-Muslim decision equitable?
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“Every Nigerian should view the rejection of the same-faith ticket as a protest in support of democracy, which ensures freedom of choice, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship, rather than as a Christian objection. The nation of Nigeria is secular. Even before the Constitution was created, our forebears were aware of this. Additionally, we need to consider people’s sensibility when making these decisions. The people, to whom the power belongs, shouldn’t be ruled over.
“A Muslim-Muslim Presidency would imply that the freedom on which Nigeria was founded as a nation would be replaced by a sectional national ideology. The APC implies that Christians in the North are unimportant in the grand scheme of things with Shettima. The North-East and North-West of our country are very Christian-populated. Christians predominate in the North Central region. Shettima must resign from this post because of this.
