The former Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal have backed the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on its rejection of their party, APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to receive negative press over its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to pick a fellow Muslim as his running mate.
CAN had warned that a Muslim-Muslim ticket could further polarize the country and directed churches against voting for candidates who do not show respect for “religious and ethnic diversity”.
Speaking at CAN’s 12th General Assembly and Leadership Transition Ceremony in Abuja, the two chieftains of the APC were of the view that political permutations which do not reflect religious balance were a threat to the country’s unity.
The former Speaker in his submission said the adoption of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by APC was capable of leading Nigeria to disintegration like Yugoslavia.
He said the opposition of Northern Christians to all Muslim ticket should not be understood to be objecting to Muslims or that they don’t want Tinubu to be president, “neither is it about Senator Kashim Shettima. It is about what is right and what is wrong, it is about justice, fairness and equity.”
Also speaking at a forum tagged, “APC Northern Christians Political Summit, Abuja 2022”, with the theme, “Righteousness Exalts a Nation, But Sin is a Reproach to Any People”, Babachir alleged that there was an agenda to politically, religiously and economically suppress and oppress Northern Christians, but assured that such agenda would be resisted.
He said Northern Christians were ready to battle the politics of exclusion and oppression, but open to discussions with anyone who wants to engage with them in good faith.
The former Secretary to the Federal Government stressed that northern Christians’ opposition to Muslim-Muslim ticket had some historical basis, adding that there were times in the past when Christians produced the Deputy Governors in Kebbi, Niger and Kaduna States, “and now it is wholly Muslim-Muslim tickets in most places.”
The former SGF said it was worth noting that all these were happening in the APC-controlled states, stressing that they were threatening to do likewise in Gombe, Kogi and Adamawa states.
Lawal said the proof of its anti-Christian agenda was that APC had completely eliminated Northern Christians from its National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Council (NEC), noting that all their protestations as party members have been completely ignored by the leadership.
He emphasised that as members of APC, they have the right to continue to express their indignation at these happenings and would not give up until they secure the justice that is due them.
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