Ahead of INEC’s Friday final deadline for the submission of candidates’ names, the President of FCT Baptist Conference, Rev. Dogara Raphael Gwana, has insisted that Muslim-Muslim ticket would not be welcome in 2023.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to be in a dilemma on who to choose as running mate to its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is a Yoruba Muslim.
While some political stakeholders like Kano Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje and former Oyo Governor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja maintain that the APC presidential candidate was free to pick another Muslim as his running mate, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) warned that doing so was tantamount to declaration of a “religious war“.
Weighing in on the controversy, Rev. Gwana noted that it would be “most unfair and unjust” for any political party to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 elections.
“We join other well-meaning Nigerians, especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to state unequivocally that such action (picking a Muslim running mate) is most unfair and unjust. It is not in keeping with the principles of fair play and equal representation to go this path.
“We heard the governor of Kaduna state making statements to justify this and citing the fact that he did same in Kaduna.
“What he has failed to state is how that action had helped in uniting the state. We live in Nigeria and we know that there is no state in Nigeria is perceived to be as polarised as Kaduna.
“The state is bleeding and is being overtaken by terrorists yet the governor comes to national media to justify an act that is condemned by all even including some of his revered Islamic clerics.
“We call on the APC presidential candidate to aim at healing the country and apply wisdom in the actions he takes towards selecting his running mate,” Vanguard quoted him as saying Sunday.