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From Fred Itua, Abuja
Ahead of the planned announcement of a Muslim running mate by the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, key Christian and Muslim leaders from the North, have continued to kick against the move.
Though some stakeholders have described the latest development as belated, the leaders, who spoke to Saturday Sun in separate interviews, said their action was better late than never. They argued that they had been talking, but their voices had been drowned by political leaders, who have used their wide reach to silence them.
Tinubu, the presidential candidate, is from the South West and he’s a practising Muslim. If he emerges as president in next year’s election, he will be the second Muslim from the South to win the presidency, but the first to be sworn-in since independence in 1960. Since his emergence as the candidate of the APC in June, 2022, the party has been divided on their choice of a vice presidential candidate from the North.
While politicians, predominantly Muslims from the North are insisting on a Muslim vice president, Christian minorities and moderate Muslims from the region are vehemently opposed to the notion.
A Second Republic House of Representatives member, Sidi Ali, in an interview with our Correspondent, warned the APC against a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Though Ali is a Muslim and a member of the APC, he, has however, insisted that if APC goes ahead, it will further polarise the country along religious lines.
Ali said: “I’ve written a letter to Boss Mustapha, Secretary to Government of the Federation about the position of Vice President and why he should show more interest. Any party that fields candidates of the same religion will not be considered as serious.
“I believe APC should not make that mistake. There are credible people from the North who are Christians and should be considered for the position of Vice President. It is not okay to have the president and vice president, as people from the same religion.
“APC fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket may not succeed. That’s why I’m reaching out to Mustapha to join the race. We have a lot from the North who are Christians. They’re good enough to be made Vice President. This is my take.”
Similarly, a Muslim APC Senator from the North East, who is a close ally of Tinubu, told Saturday Sun that he has personally held a meeting with the presidential candidate and urged him to shelve the idea of picking a Muslim as a running.
He revealed that he personally told Tinubu that picking a Muslim from the North, will pitch the Christian community in Nigeria against APC and hand over the victory in 2023 to the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, who is a core Northern Muslim. He said there are over 20 million eligible Christians in the North, who are of voting age that can be persuaded to vote for Tinubu, but added that a Muslim-Muslim ticket will send a dangerous message to Northern minority Christians that their interests won’t be protected.
He said: “Atiku is a core Northern Muslim from the North. Picking a Muslim as a running mate from the North won’t change the voting pattern. Tinubu is a Muslim from the South and Southerners don’t really care. But they’ll care if Tinubu picks a Muslim as a running mate
“That’s why Atiku’s camp is banking on that. They know that a Muslim running mate to Tinubu will make him vulnerable in the South. Why will you make such a mistake because governors are insisting?
“I’ve read statements from Catholic Bishops and Christian leaders. I’ve also seen the same thing from Northern Christians. You can’t ignore these demography and expect to win elections. I understand how the North votes. It will be Tinubu’s biggest miscalculation as a politician.” Though Tinubu’s men and many APC governors are in support of the move, the camps of the chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, Simon Lalong and Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, are unrelenting. It was gathered that a team from Lalong, who has since secured a senatorial ticket on the platform of the APC, has been frequenting Lagos and key APC states, lobbying Tinubu’s men to consider him as a viable running mate. Though his media aide, Makut Macham, has denied it, Saturday Sun reliably gathered that Lalong has met with Yoruba leaders and the leadership of APC in Abuja, to make a strong case for his bid.
“If God says he will be the next vice president of Nigeria, nobody can stop it. It is up to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the APC family to decide. Lalong together with his colleagues have done their part in insisting that power goes to the South. Let everyone remember that it is God who gives power to whomsoever he pleases. No amount of paid propaganda can change anything. Head or tail, Lalong wins,” Macham had noted. His appeal, has however, not yielded the needed outcome, especially from the governor’s Muslim colleagues from the North and the leadership of the APC.
A source familiar with the development, revealed that APC leaders appear unconvinced about Lalong’s ability to galvanise minorities in the North to vote for Tinubu. The source said the leaders referred to the last two governorship elections in Plateau State that produced Lalong. He said the margin between him and the candidates of the PDP was too infinitesimal. On the other hand, the Mustapha Camp, according to sources, is mounting pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to step in and insist on a choice of a running mate to be a Christian. The source said Mustapha has been visiting the Presidential Villa and key APC leaders regularly, since Tinubu emerged as the candidate of the APC. The source said Mustapha’s biggest headache, is the fact that he has never won any elections before or occupied an elective position.
“Mustapha has no known base. He’s from the same State with Atiku Abubakar. There is no way he will win the state for APC during the presidential elections. If he can’t his own state, how will he galvanise minorities and other people in the North to support Tinubu? That’s why it is difficult to find a credible Christian running mate from the North,” the source said.
