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2023: pressure piles on parties as CAN, stakeholders warn against Muslim-Muslim ticket

Atiku has nothing for you, he'll only scam you, Tinubu warns Nigerians

Posted: June 15, 2022 at 3:16 am   /   by   /   comments (0)

The Christian Association of Nigeria and the Catholic Society of Nigeria, among other organizations, have warned political parties against running a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election.


They issued the warning as the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), the All Progressives Congress governors, and the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, intensified efforts on Tuesday to select Tinubu’s running mate ahead of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s deadline of Friday.


Campaigners for Tinubu argued that what was important was a responsive and responsible government, not religion.
Since Tinubu’s election as a southern Muslim, there has been debate over his running mate for the 2023 presidential election, with CAN claiming that a Muslim-Muslim ticket was a recipe for disaster.
However, in an interview on Sunday, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai stated that competence, not religion, should be considered when selecting a running mate.
CAN said in an open letter to all political parties on Tuesday that a Muslim-Muslim ticket was a declaration of war and that it would mobilize against political parties that supported it.
In the letter, the religious body advised politicians not to sow the seeds of religious conflict among Nigerians.


The letter, signed by the association’s national secretary, Joseph Daramola, was addressed to the chairmen of all political parties in Nigeria.
He stated that, while there were reports of corruption during presidential primaries, it was a huge relief that the events were mostly peaceful.

Although it is the responsibility of political parties to select their candidates, he believes that “a balance must be struck” to ensure that the nation enjoys peace and security after elections.


“As the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria, we call on all the presidential candidates to choose men or women of alternative religion as their running mates. For avoidance of doubt, the CAN will not accept any presidential ticket that is Christian-Christian or Muslim- Muslim.
“This simply means that where the presidential candidate of the party is a Christian, the deputy should be a Muslim; and where the presidential candidate is a Muslim, the deputy should be a Christian.


“There should not situation where the presidential ticket of a political party in Nigeria, whether a major or minor party, will be two Christians as presidential candidate and running mate, or two Muslims as presidential candidate and running mate. All within us as Nigerians must be done to douse religious and ethnic tensions in the land.


“This minimum requirement for a valid presidential ticket in the Nigeria of today is that it is religiously diverse. With the crisis of religious fundamentalism and its mainstreaming into policymaking and administrative actions in Nigeria today, anything short of a Christian-Muslim or Muslim-Christian ticket is an undisguised effort to nurture religious conflicts and destabilize the country.”


Daramola added that in view of  growing religiously motivated terrorism, including   the recent attack in a church in Owo, Ondo State,  “any plot to have both the President and Vice President come from the same religion is a deliberate effort to ignite the fire of religious warfare in Nigeria.


“The weaponisation of religious difference in the recent past as never before is a cause for concern and a sufficient reason for those of us who do not want this nation to go into avoidable crisis to cry out now. It will be plain disrespect for diverse religious communities in Nigeria for any party to go against common sense to foist a single religious ticket in a religious plural country with serious problems of religious extremism and violence on Nigerians. No party in Nigeria can deny the existence of credible men and women from both Islam and Christianity that can be their Presidential and running mate.


“Whereas CAN is not a partisan organisation and does not involve itself with the process of partisan politics, it has a responsibility to defend the religious freedom of Nigerian citizens, whether Christians or not. CAN has a responsibility to speak out and mobilize civic action against threats to the unity, peace and security of the Nigerian state.
“Therefore, we give notice to all political parties that we will protect the religious diversity of the Nigerian state and will “mobilize politically against any political party that sows the seed of religious conflict by presenting to Nigeria a presidential ticket that is Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian.


“We will consider such action as a declaration of war against the freedom of religion, the peace and security of the Nigerian state. We will consider such insensitive action as evidence of a deliberate action to plunge the country further into religious violence and extremism and destroy the foundations of the continuation of the Nigerian state.
“As the presidential candidates prepare to nominate their running mates, we sound the note of warning,  through this letter, that only a diversified presidential ticket will be acceptable to Nigeria in line with the constitutional requirement of power sharing and the responsibility of sensitivity to Nigeria’s deep religious diversity.


“We pray that God will give the political elites the wisdom to seek peace and prosperity for the mistreated citizens of Nigeria and avoid the path of provocations that lead to violent conflict. May God guide our leaders to become statesmen and women who are dedicated to the promotion of the common good and not the mindless pursuit of destructive selfishness.”
Also, a group, the Oodua Youth Parliament,  called on Tinubu to pick a northern Christian..
It claimed that selecting a Christian running mate from the country’s north would give Tinubu and the APC the desired victory.
This was stated in a statement issued on Tuesday by the group’s leader, Abdulmojeed Oyeniyi.


Northern Christians and pastors united under the banner of the Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association warned against imposing a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“The ACIPA has observed with sadness the hijacking of Nigeria’s political process and perhaps our future by a few money bag politicians with the tacit conspiracy of some of our legislatures and the Presidency,” said the group’s chairman, Rev. Shehu Luke.
“While the recently concluded primary elections of the major political parties appeared to have a public semblance of transparency, it is completely obvious that there was a covert inducement of delegates through a well orchestrated machinery which influenced.”

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