Northern Christians have completely rejected the Muslim/Ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which has produced Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the presidential candidate, describing the move as an agenda to economically and politically marginalise Northern Christians. This rejection comes ahead of the general and Presidential elections in 2023.
[keypoints]
- Lawal, Dogara, and others rally Northern Christians to reject the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Tinubu and Shettima
- Claim that there is a plan to economically and politically marginalise them
[/keypoints]
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate Sen. Shettima Kashim will have a herculean task persuading Christians of northern extraction to vote for them in the 2023 election, according to the decision made Friday at the Nicon Luxury Hotel in Abuja during the APC Northern Christians Leader Summit with Christians from the north.
No Christian would vote for the APC’s current leadership structure, according to the Northern Christian leaders.
Speaking as the chairman of the event, which included Northern Christians of the Nineteen Northern States, former Secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Engr Babachir Lawal, noted that the Muslim-Muslim ticket was an extension of the exclusion of Christians from the country’s plans, but stressed that the measure would disrupt the country’s peace and social development, arguing that it remains a part of the subterfuge.
[quotation name=’Babachir Lawal’]Clearly, there is an agenda to politically, religiously, and economically suppress and oppress the Northern Christians. But we are up to the task.
“Calculated anti-Christian exclusion agenda being implemented.
“We will protect ourselves. The PVC and our prayers will be our weapons of choice and we will massively deploy them in 2023.[/quotation]
Babachir warned Christians not to be duped by the APC leadership on the Muslim-Muslim ticket because matters of religion cannot be separated from national politics. He provided detailed examples of how Christians have been marginalised in the APC NWC, the Federal executive council (FEC), and state and federal-owned educational institutions across the nation.
[quotation name=’Babachir’]We are not the ones that started this fight,.
APC started it. They should be ready to carry this cross. We are open to discussion with whoever discusses with the Christian community in good faith.” [/quotation]
The claim that the appointment of Shettima was based on consideration of competence rather than his religious leanings was referred to as “hogwash” by former Federal House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who spoke in the same vein as the guest speaker.
Despite his affection for Tinubu, Dogara claims that the claim that Christian votes won’t count the same as Muslim votes is illogical because, in the past, Nigerians of all faiths contributed to the election of Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, respectively.
