Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has flayed the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket adopted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 general election, describing it as unnecessary and deceitful.
The Herald can report that the APC presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a Yoruba Muslim and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima is a Kanuri Muslim.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket has generated a lot of controversies since Tinubu nominated Shettima to be his substantive running mate in July.
Sheikh Gumi bared his mind on the ticket in an interview on the forthcoming general election and the state of the nation, Vanguard reports.
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He advised Nigerians to shun ethnoreligious politics in the 21st century and focus on electing an experienced leader to surmount the nation’s numerous challenges.
The cleric also spoke about other leading presidential candidates.
On the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Gumi said, “Nigeria needs an experienced politician. We don’t need a novice to be President. The situation in Nigeria today needs an experienced politician to solve it.”
On Tinubu’s claim that it was his turn to be president, Gumi said, “It is not proper for him to say it is his turn. There is no question to saying it is my turn. Don’t say it is my turn because if people like you they will vote for you. He is a good administrator, he can do it. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is unnecessary.
“We all know all these politicians are looking for votes. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is, let me use Hausa language, wayo (deceit). It is not religion. Whether it will work or not, I don’t want to prophesy, but there are a lot of hurdles. In fact, all political parties have hurdles. Muslim-Muslim ticket is going to be a laboratory test for others to emulate or not”.
On the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Gumi said, “Youths following him are divided like the adults. He needs to reach out to other segments of Nigerians. Relying on youths is not enough. He has to be all over the place, and not leaving politics to one region.”
He said that unity in the face of challenges would do the nation a lot of good.
“Nigeria is now in the 21st century, people are more educated now. What Nigeria needs now are people with competency. We should not be talking about the North because the North is no longer monolithic, we should not be talking about the Southwest because no particular person is in control, and we should not be talking about South East, look at how Senator Ifeanyi Ubah was attacked by his own people.
“So let’s talk about Nigeria as one united people. Nobody controls anybody in the country. So let’s move forward. Look at America, nobody is talking about power rotation. Let’s develop a democracy that we can sustain,” Gumi said.