Amidst the speculation and attendant tension over a Muslim ticket in the All Progressives Congress (APC), a certain group within the party has cautioned the leadership of the party and APC Northern Governors to shelve the idea.
Addressing journalists on Sunday, convener of the APC Stakeholders, Aliu Adamu said it has become compelling for the party to surrender itself to the agitation for consideration of a chieftain of the party, of Christian faith as running mate to the party standard-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He said: “Having successfully crossed the hurdle of producing a presidential candidate from the southern region, All Progressives Congress is now faced with yet another important hurdle it must cross before the deadline for the submission of nominations by political parties elapses The bone of contention this time around lies in which of the two dominant faith will produce the Vice Presidential candidate. There have been arguments that a Vice Presidential candidate who is primed to come from the north must be of the Christian faith, while some others have argued that for the APC to stand the chance of winning the 2023 presidential election, the Vice must be a Christian since the South has already produced a Muslim as the Presidential candidate.
“Gentlemen of the press, the APC National Stakeholders is deeply concerned about the raging controversy which has heated the polity in the last few days. Why we are conscious of the fact that religion should not be a determining factor in our leadership selection process, the peculiar circumstance the nation funds herself calls tor do reflection in the decisions we take, so long as they bother on our national lives.
“Today, the country is deeply divided within our fault lines of ethnicity and religion and we cannot afford to jettison this sensibility in critical decision making. This is why we think that the All Progressives Congress must be guided by the sense of these sensibilities in the selection of the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party. To do otherwise, would be to further fuel what divides us and give room for mischief makers to take advantage of our differences.
“Nigeria is in dire need of good governance, which can come from either a Muslim leader or a Christian leader. But in the spirit of nationalism, justice and fairness which the northern governors demonstrated a few days ago, the leaders of the north on whose shoulder the emergence of the Vice Presidential candidate rests must also demonstrate this spirit by ensuring that the candidate comes from the Christian faith.
“The northern APC has in its fold capable individuals from the Christian faith with a proven track record that can deliver just like anyone from the other faith. Their capability to deliver on the ideals of the party aside, they also have the capacity to win elections for the party. Suffice to add that no individual wins elections for any political party, it is the collective of all and we are sure the APC can achieve this.
“The APC National Stakeholders, therefore, call on the APC to narrow her search of the Vice Presidential candidate of the party to a northern Christian whom we have in abundance. Doing this will ensure national inclusion, help to manage our differences and promote national unity.”
At a separate briefing, another group, the North East APC Youth Stakeholders Forum appealed to the stakeholders in the party to consider zoning the position of Vice President to the North East.
Speaking with newsmen, Haruna Adamu, Chairman, North East APC Youth Stakeholders Forum, said the zone has always delivered block votes to the ruling party at successive elections.
Adamu also said giving the slot of Vice President to the zone would go a long way in dividing the votes of the People’s Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who incidentally is from Adamawa state in the North East.
“Zoning the position of the Vice President to the North East will neutralise the PDP Presidential candidate and mobilises massive support from the region and other Zones to ensure the victory of Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
“We therefore, appeal to our National, State critical and Non-critical Stakeholders especially our father president Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) our Candidate Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Senator Abdullahi Adamu led APC National Working Committee.”
Credit: Nigerian Tribune