The political camp of All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has opted to embrace the Muslim-Muslim ticket in next year’s election, calling it a winning formular.
The new move effectively rules out the two top Northern Christians – Governor Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Boss Mustapha, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) – as possible running mate to the former Lagos State Governor.
Sources have confirmed that unless there is an overriding veto from The Presidency, Tinubu’s men are settling for a core Muslim Northerner as running mate, echoing the position of the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, who last week argued that the APC could win with a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
This, Ado-Doguwa noted is because Tinubu himself is a liberal Muslim married to a Christian and Deacon of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The risk for the APC is that even though Tinubu is a nominal Muslim, he is not Muslim enough to be trusted by Northern Muslim leaders to be able to call out the votes for him if he picks a Christian running mate.
Those on the final shortlist as running mate to Tinubu include Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; a former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima; Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State.”
A source told Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN) that “the essence is to have a winning team which is only assured if he picks a strong core Northern Muslim who will lead the charge in the region. See, what is driving this is that the North votes mainly based on region and religion. And even though Tinubu is a Muslim, he is not from the region.
“This would make the core Muslim voters gravitate to either the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar or that of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. This would drain the votes of the APC in the Presidential election. But if they have a Muslim as Tinubu’s running mate, there would be the basis for him to be acceptable to the average Northerner.”
Already, the APC and its Presidential candidate, in anticipation of the choice, have sent out feelers and the defenders of the impending choice are already taking media spaces.
The defenders of the Muslim-Muslim ticket for Tinubu include Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and a member of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), Salihu Mohammed Lukman.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) also weighed into the controversy, saying such a ticket was possible.
But those in favour of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for Tinubu cite the 1993 similar presidential ticket of the late Chief MKO Abiola and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe which presumably won that year’s election.
El-Rufai, who spoke on Channels Television, said Nigerians should be concerned about getting the right person for the job and not religion.
His words: “You are asking the wrong question. I don’t know about Muslim – Muslim ticket. Some of my closest friends are Christians. It was Pastor Tunde Bakare that took me to CPC and not President Buhari. I am very close to many Christians. I don’t think that the business of governance has anything to do with religion.
“We should look for the best person for the job, the person that can get the job done. I think I am the wrong person to ask of Muslim Muslim Ticket because, in my State, I picked a very competent Muslim woman as a running mate in 2019. They said it was Muslim – Muslim ticket, that we were going to lose but we won overwhelmingly.
“This fixation on religion instead of competence and capability is quite sad and sympathetic. I urge you as the media to please take religion out of governance and let’s look for competence, capability and delivery. I don’t think we should be looking at religion if we want to develop this country.
“When I get into a plane, I don’t ask for the religion of the pilot and when I get to the hospital, I don’t ask for the religion of the doctor. I just want to get well. The way the media and many irresponsible people try to inject religion into politics and governance is sad and pathetic and will not take us anywhere.
“Nigeria is at a crossroads. It is so sad. It is not religion that will address the problem of this country. It is competent people that will address them, unite the country and put it in a progressive part.”
In his own contribution, Fani-Kayode said he would support Tinubu should APC settle for Muslim running-mate
“It is an issue and we will have to explain and defend to the wider population of the Nigerian people if we choose to go that way. I am not saying I’m against it. If that’s what the candidate wants, we will stand by him and defend him.”
Among those who kicked against potential Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election, last week, include the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal. El-Rufai, at the weekend, defending potential Muslim-Muslim ticket ahead of the 2023 presidential election, said religion has no place in politics.
Responding to the rejection of Muslim-Muslim ticket by CAN and the counter-claims by the Muslim Rights Concern, the Director, Legal Directorate, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), told Sunday PUNCH: “What is the business of CAN in politics? That is what I don’t understand? Was CAN there when we were doing our convention? Do they know the processes of how our candidate emerged? I think CAN, MURIC and other religious bodies should concentrate on their religion and stop heating up the polity. The party has not come up with any position; so why the issue of threats? What is their own with issuing threats?
“We will pick the best (running mate) for our party who can deliver the election for us; they should allow the people to decide what they want.”
And in order to make the choice easier for people to swallow, the stature of top Northern candidates who are Christians are being diminished by the narratives around them since they helped win the Presidential nomination. For example, Plateau State Governor’s name was dropped off the list for consideration because he’s known to be very close to the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who came second during the primary.
The source said, “From fresh considerations, we cannot pick Lalong or Boss Mustapha. Apart from his closeness to Amaechi, a factor we are not very comfortable with, Lalong is from the North-Central, which is not a core Northern State. Plateau is also considered not to be strategic enough to win elections in Northern Nigeria. Using him will be like alienating the entire Northern Nigeria.
“Concerning Boss Mustapha, well, he is not with us. Though he belonged to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria like Tinubu, he does not identify with him. He was not part of our campaign and has yet to visit the aspirant (as of Saturday afternoon) since he won the primary.
“In his home state of Adamawa, it’s known that Mustapha cannot win an election there. So, why will you impose such a man on an aspirant that needs the huge votes from the Northern region?”
