The choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, thus adopting a Muslim-Muslim ticket has elicited wide condemnations from Christians and Northern Nigeria minorities.
Tinubu announced Shettima, on Sunday, as his running mate, in Daura, Katsina state shortly after paying a Sallah visit to President Muhammadu Buhari. Shettima is a Senator representing Borno Central District in the nation’s Upper Chamber. He was a two-term governor in Borno state.
Tinubu’s announcement came amidst protests from the leadership of various Christian bodies in Nigeria, especially the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Catholic Bishops.
Among the political class, the choice does not enjoy the backing of Northern APC governors especially those from the North West, who had insisted that one of them be picked.
CAN’s Spokesperson, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said Nigerians should be ready to face the consequences of their actions if they endorsed and vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“We knew this was what he was going to do and we have warned against it. It is up to Nigerians to decide on what they want.
“You are all alive when we warned Buhari not to allow Muslims to dominate the security architecture of the country and he did it. I think we can see the way the criminals are operating with impunity.
“So, if Tinubu says he is opting for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a polarised country like ours, if Nigerians endorse him and vote for him, whatever happens, Nigerians will face the consequences.
“If you have a government where a Pastor is a vice president and pastors and worshipers are being killed you can imagine what will happen when we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“It is left to Nigerians to make their choice, let them vote them in and we will all face the consequences together.
“We are raising our alarm. It is an irony that Buhari they regarded as an extremist when we raised an alarm to warn him against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, he heeded and opted for a Christian as his vice presidential candidate. ”
PDP chieftain and former presidential aspirant, Alhaji Isa Saulawa, described the Muslim-Muslim ticket as signifying victory for his party, the PDP.
“This is good news for us because it’s an indication that the PDP will return to power in 2023. There is no doubt that whatsoever that the current regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, right from inception, adopted a policy of deliberate marginalisation of the Christian community in Nigeria despite a Christian vice president. So, you can imagine a scenario where we have a Muslim-Muslim presidency. In fact, we are already celebrating the APC and Tinubu blunder.”
It’s best choice -Publisher
Renown newspaper publisher and politics analyst, Malam Mohammed Katsina, described Tinubu’s choice as the best for the APC arguing that Shettima recorded outstanding performance when he was governor of Borno State.
“This issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket is irrelevant and it’s my view that Nigerians should rise above such pedestrian sentiments and forge ahead for the overall development of the country. There is nothing wrong with Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket in a democratic setting.
“If you take Kaduna State as a case study, you see that the Muslim-Muslim ticket is viable where the governor is Muslim and the deputy is also Muslim.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said Muslim-Muslim ticket agenda is not a good arrangement.
Speaking in an interview on national television on Sunday night, he said so many things have changed in the country since 1993 when MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, both Muslims, ran on the platform of the then Social Democratic Party (SDP) and won.
According to Kwankwaso, “in 1993 in SDP, I was deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, we found ourselves in a similar situation where we had a Muslim-Muslim ticket. That was almost 30 years ago and in 2023, it would be exactly 30 years. And so many things have changed in this country. The possible thing to have changed is the quality of leadership that we have seen over the years, which allowed Nigerians to, unfortunately, take to their cocoons in terms of religion, ethnicity region and so on.
“That is why NNPP will do whatever it can to bring Nigerians together but for now I believe the persons and people who are talking about Muslim-Muslim tickets will soon know that is not the best arrangement. And it is just a matter of time they will realize the mistake of doing it.”
Shoving aside the criticisms, Tinubu has said the ticket represents a milestone in Nigeria’s political annals, just as it was when Abiola chose Kingibe.The 1993 presidential election which was won by Abiola is adjudged to be the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history.
And on social media, the reception of the Muslim-Muslim ticket is received with disbelief and anger.
On Twitter, respondents believe the APC national leader has shot himself in the leg for foisting a Muslim-Muslim ticket in Nigeria’s politics.
The argument on Twitter flawed Tinubu’s audacity to opt for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, a move his two major challengers in the next year’s presidential election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) flag bearers, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively avoided, in their bid to win the hearts of Nigerians at the polls.
While some tweeps raised the issue that Chibok girls were kidnapped under Shettima’s watch as a governor in terrorism-laden Borno state in 2014, others concluded that former Lagos governor’s decision as left them with two options of Atiku and Obi in the presidential race. Below are a few of Nigerians’ reactions on Twitter:
@firstladyship tweeted: “Tinubu picked Shettima, making the APC a Muslim-Muslim ticket. We are not voting for ethnicity or religion. We are voting for MERIT. We are voting against Corruption, ASUU Strikes, Hunger and Poverty, National Grid Collapses, Mad Insecurity, Crazy Inflation, etc. AM I MAKING SENSE?” According to @nigeriasbest, “It was Shettima alongside Lamido Sanusi who said that the Niger Delta receiving 13% was one of the causes of Boko-Haram…If you elect divisive characters, volenti non fit injuria…”
“This same Shettima was governor when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. This is the governor that despite the warnings of @GEJonathan (former President Goodluck Jonathan) that no exams should take place, he still went ahead with the exams and #Chibokgirls got missing. This is the person @officialABAT (Asiwaju Bola Tinubu) wants as vice,” @thebardogbamola reacted.
@ayemojubar said: “Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket with Shettima will influence the decisions of at least 5% of voters in the coming election. Nobody plans to make 2023 election religion based, but the fear (of) Islamisation agenda which Buhari started is becoming too real and too scary.”
“You can insult me because I said no to a Muslim-Muslim ticket or not in support of Shettima,” @NabirAbduls said. “I really don’t care about insults. I have a bright future ahead of me and I have Peter Obi who got my interest and that of every Nigerian at heart…”
@biodunalexa tweeted: “Tinubu running a Muslim-Muslim ticket by choosing Shettima is his choice. He believes Muslims alone in the SW & the North can give him his Victory. Nigeria finally belongs to Muslims alone according to APC. Everyone vote your choice. Thank God there is a third candidate in Obi.”
@edwardessien asserted: “With Tinubu/APC choosing Shettima on the Muslim Muslim ticket, the race is now between Peter Obi and Atiku. Peter Obi will be President 2023. Bookmark this!”