With the emergence of the presidential candidates of the leading political parties in Nigeria in the last one week, what follows is the challenge of choosing their Vice Presidential candidates.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the electoral umpire overseeing the process of electing new set of leaders in Nigeria has given the parties and their presidential candidates one week after the election to choose their vice presidential candidates.
INEC, has given Friday June 17, 2022 as a deadline for political parties to send the names of their Presidential candidates and running mates.
It also issued Friday 15 July, 2022 as a deadline for the parties to submit names of Gubernatorial candidates and their running mates.
Therefore the horsetrading for the choice of the relevant candidates has started. For some it may be an easy ride while some others it may not be all that smooth.
The leading candidates so far are Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu for APC, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku for the PDP, and Former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi and his rising profile representing the Labour Party.
It may not be an uphill task for Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as the choice of a Christian VP is very easy from the abundant of such in the south. Same goes for Peter Obi, a Christian from the south can also easily pick a popular Muslim politician in the north.
But all eyes are on Senator Bola Tinubu, a respected king maker and a well aclaimed leader of the APC to choose his vice president. Tinubu is a Muslim from the South, and for acceptability across Nigeria he needs a Christian partner in the north as VP.
The challenge ahead of him now is how to choose an acceptable Christian politician in the north to be enlisted as his vice presidential candidate. The south which is predominantly Christian is keenly watching.
The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria has also expressed in unmistakable terms their total rejection of any candidate mulling the idea of either Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim candidate. This is coming as a result of what Christians have suffered under the leadership of the out going president Muhammadu Buhari.
Christians have been killed in thousands, Churches have beed attacked and destroyed with the government doing nothing appreciable about it, Christian communities have been destroyed with no reprieve. The situation is so bad that Christians are finding it diffiult to trust any Muslim to take after Muhammadu Buhari.
Many people most especially Christians are very clear about their position on those that they want to lead them come 2023. This is a riddle which Alhaji Bola Tinubu is expected to solve, and he is being variously advised on how to choose right to allay the fears of Nigerian Christians.
As things are now, the right option is for Bola Tinubu to choose a Christian as Vice President if he wants a smooth sailing in his ambition to become the president of Nigeria in 2023.
However some people are saying whoever Bola Tinubu chooses does not matter as long as such a person meets his presidential aspirations. Asiwaju Tinubu is a not a religious bigot. He has no religious bias. He is married to a Christian and a Pastor of The redeemed Christian church of God, one of the prominent and fast growing Church in Nigeria.
The choice of Vice presidential candidates across parties have been generating responses and reactions across different strata of the society. While Muslims seem to be comfortable with Muslim-Muslim tickets, Christians would not like to take that, asking why Muslims are not agreeing on Christian-Christian tickets.
They argue, “What matters the most is the competence of the person you are going to choose as your deputy, if he or she is a Nigerian with the capacity to help you achieve your great plans for this country, I am sure majority won’t bother whether he or she is a Christian or Muslim, Says Aminu Bashir, a social media user.
Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of bandits infested Kaduna State speaking in favour of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in an in interview with Channels TV, a popular TV station in nigeria said, “the fixation of Nigerians on religion instead of capacity is quite sad and pathetic” reasoning that Nigerians should consider competence over religious considerations.
He is however replied by Joe Ulaeto, a respondent saying “Muslim Muslim ticket is already dead on arrival. The advocates should equally consider Christian-Christian ticket. There’s religious diversity in this country, it should be considered”.
Another challenged El-Rufai to answer the following questions:
“Can the north accept a Christian-Christian ticket?, Can the north accept a Southern-Southern Ticket?, Can the south accept a Northern-Northern ticket?”
On how Christians had once accepted MKO Abiola and Tofa’s ticket which was a Muslim-Muslim ticket, he wrote, “This country is so divided now than ever, thanks to politicians. There are competence and capacity everywhere not only when it suits you. You cannot deny the fact that the north is more religious sensitive than the south.”
If it were to be Christian-Christian how wïll El-Rufai take ìt? With what is happening with fight against Boko Haram, bandits, herdsmen, why are all these Muslims not sorry for saying so? No to Muslim-Muslim tickets whoever is thìnking about it doesn’t mean well.
Nigerians also reminded the Muslim-Muslim advocates of several atrocities commited by Muslim backed bandits and Islamic terrists. “North Central cannot forget the persecutions, burning of Churches, villages, denial of government work etc, the killings in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, FCT, as Kogi and Kwara are watching.
Nigerians are also using the opportunity to warn Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be aware of the implications of the error of choosing a Muslim vice president, saying “Protest votes loading. Thank God for Peter Obi” seeing Peter Obi as a waiting candidate for the Christians that are well spread in the Southern and Central and North Eastern parts of Nigeria.
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