The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Sunday, decided to go the MKO Abiola way, which is testing his popularity with Muslim-Muslim ticket for the forthcoming general elections.
The former Lagos State Governor settled for a fellow Muslim and former Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
This selection was made amid outcry in some quarters that a Muslim-Muslim ticket may not fly in a nation highly polarised along religious line. Nigeria is at crossroads over terrorists’ activities in the country majorly perpetrated by Islamic sects.
Like MKO Abiola, who won the 1993 presidential election with a Muslim running mate, Tinubu is obviously testing his popularity with same faith ticket.
Nigerians voted Abiola from the length and breadth of the country and he won 19 out of the 30 States and the Federal Capital Territory, according to results which leaked from the National Electoral Commission, NEC, as it was called then.
The Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate won all the States of the South-West, three of the seven States in the South-East; five of the nine northern States, including Kano, home State of Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention, NRC and four out of the seven States in the central middle belt.
Out of the 6.6 million votes that were announced, Abiola had received 4.3 million and Tofa 2.3 million.
Abiola would have been at that time the first southerner to be elected as president of Nigeria if he had been declared the winner.
The final vote was leaked on 18 June by democracy activists defying the law, revealing Abiola won by a 58% majority. Now, the rest is history.
But one thing was established- the fact that the 1993 election was a breakthrough in ethno-religious divides, with Abiola having received support from all regions of the country.
While giving the reasons for his decision to pick a fellow Muslim as his running mate, Tinubu had said that it was “in the spirit of 1993” when Nigerians “embraced Chief MKO Abiola and a fellow Muslim running mate”, but most Nigerians have seen this particular statement as insensitive.
It is seen as a dangerous signal that Tinubu is comparing 2022/2023 with 1993.
While in 1993, majority of Nigerians, saw nothing wrong with the Muslim/Muslim ticket of Abiola and Babagana Kingibe. It was not forced on them. Not forgetting that the 1993 election was adjudged the freest, fairest election in the history of Nigeria.
The Abiola’s Muslim-Muslim ticket was not shoved on Nigerians and during that period, the country was not so divided on ethnic and religious divides.
Most Nigerians believe that Tinubu should have listened when the people of Nigeria are complaining, a good leader should.
Moreover, being a two-party system in 1999, Nigerians were presented with no choice but to pick from the best of the two candidates made available to them by the parties.
Tinubu’s decision to pick a fellow Muslim is said to have constituted an infraction against Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution and violated the broad-based composition of government as spelt out in section 14(3) of the Constitution on Federal Character Principles in appointments in Nigeria
Experts argue that the above 1999 Federal Constitution came six years after the M.K.O Abiola’s Muslim-Muslim ticket and that the above sections should guide political parties in the country in their decision making in a secular system like Nigeria.
The action of the APC and its Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has been described as deliberate move to islamise the country and hand it over to terrorists.
Among the flurry of reactions being received on this development include Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, who told Nigerians that any vote cast for the APC is a vote for the disintegration of Nigeria, saying the people must now choose between the Labour Party, LP and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He noted that the Muslim-Muslim government currently going on in Kaduna State has shown that such system does not favour Christians.
Also, the Senior Pastor, Dunamis Int’l Gospel Centre, Worldwide, Dr. Paul Enenche, angered by this decision, warned politicians against rigging the 2023 general elections in favour of any political party or individual.
Enenche, who thinks the ruling party may want power by all means, said any attempt to impose a candidate of their choice on the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, will be disastrous.
The Senior pastor said that any attempt to impose a failure against the choice of the masses would be disastrous.
“You know, about seven years ago, some persons arrived and said they wanted to give change. I am sure you remember; you have seen the change.
“Loss of lives, blood flowing like water and all manner of banditry, terrorism, kidnappings, unbelievable insecurity, poverty, scarcity, shortage, and all manner of terrible things that continue till this day.
“Nobody should be afraid of the mess and rubbish that is happening today in the political cycle. We have a God in heaven that will answer us by fire. Anything they want, let them do now, but when Jehovah steps down,” he said.
Also angered by the selection, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, had hit out at the APC, Tinubu and Northern Muslim politicians.
Lawal, in a note he personally signed on Tuesday, described the decision as a “disastrous error.”
Mr Lawal, who backed Tinubu during the APC presidential primaries, said the choice of Mr Shettima was a sign that the APC presidential candidate has “been cornered by self-serving, hero-worshiping lapdogs.”
“The northern governors and some northern Muslim elites must have persuaded him that they will never vote for a ticket that has a northern Christian on it. And he has agreed with them.
“But if he thinks a Moslem-Moslem ticket will win him the northern Muslim votes, he should have a rethink. They will massively vote for one of their sons because it is in their nature to do so. Buhari, their first son will not be on the ballot in 2023. Atiku, their second son will be,” Mr Lawal said.
Also, the youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, OYC, reacted to Tinubu’s choice of former Borno Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
At a press briefing in Enugu, the Ohanaeze youths said the choice of Shettima was against the law of natural justice.
The National President of OYC, who is also the National Organizing Secretary of National Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders’ Council, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike said everything must be done by Nigerians to stop the APC from destroying the country.
He said the level of killings and violence targeted at Christians under the present administration was unprecedented and expressed concern that the Christian community would become a totally endangered specie under the Muslim-Muslim presidency.
He declared that Tinubu’s decision was an insult on millions of Christians in the country as no religion had precedence over the other.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, has also stated that any political party that nominates same faith candidates has no respect for the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria.
It added that such political parties prioritize selfishness, greed and personal unhealthy interest over the good of the nation.
Kaduna State chairman of CAN, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, in a statement said, “The implication of such a decision is that such a candidate has no respect for the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria, it also suggests that the candidate is just a candidate that priorities selfishness, greed and personal unhealthy interest over the good of the nation.”
Rev. Hayab observed that to remove bias in government against any specific tribe, at least in form, the Nigerian Federal Character Framework was authoritatively captured in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, thus: “The government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”
Meanwhile, the ruling party, on Thursday, postponed the official unveiling of former Borno State Governor, Kashim Shetima, as the running mate to its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Shetima was scheduled to have been presented to party members at the APC national Secretariat on Thursday.
However, the Chairman of the APC Press Corp informed reporters that the event has been moved forward.
He said a new date will be announced in due time and that the date would probably be sometime next week.
The Press Corp chairman said the directive for the postponement was given by the party’s Deputy National Secretary.
No reason has been given for the decision which comes amid controversy over the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the party.
Following the suspension of the presentation, there are speculations that any moment from now, Tinubu and the entire party Chief executives may change their minds by replacing Senator Shettima with a Christian as vice presidential candidate.
An inside source who revealed this to DAILY POST on Thursday, noted that there is an aggressive search for a popular Christian, to replace Shettima.
The impeccable source said that Bola Tinubu may likely change his running mate based owing to the public outcry over Muslim- Muslim ticket, as he does not feel comfortable with both social and mainstream media reactions that welcomed his test of popularity with the unpopular ticket