The decision of the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to nominate a fellow Muslim from Northern Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima as his vice presidential candidate still reverberates in the country. This is more so among some Northern Christian Leaders in the APC who had taken for granted that the vice-presidential slot would come from among them for national balance and federal character.
In Nigeria there is an unwritten understanding that when a presidential candidate is from the North, the vice would come from the South. And if the presidential candidate is a Muslim, the vice presidential candidate would be a Christian.
To show that this has become the norm all the 18 registered political parties for the 2023 presidential election, only the ruling APC is going to the election
with the same faith presidential ticket. This decision of the APC presidential candidate has not gone down well with many Northern Christian leaders. Among the most vociferous opponents of this is the former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal and former speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara. The duo is leading the group known as Northern Christian Leaders in APC who are opposed to the election of their party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become Nigeria’s president in 2023.
This group recently announced that they are looking for alternative presidential candidate to support. Among the alternatives are Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Others are Imumolen Christopher – Accord Party (AP); Al-Mustapha Hamza – Action Alliance (AA) Sowore Omoyele – African Action Congress (AAC); Kachikwu Dumebi – African Democratic Congress (ADC); Sani Yabagi Yusuf – Action Democratic Party (ADP); Umeadi Peter Nnanna – All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Ojei Princess Chichi – Allied People’s Movement (APM); Nnamdi Charles Osita – Action Peoples Party (APP); Adenuga Sunday Oluwafemi – Boot Party (BP); Osakwe Felix Johnson – National Rescue Movement (NRM); Abiola Latifu Kolawole – Peoples Redemption Party (PRP); Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer – Social Democratic Party (SDP); Ado-Ibrahim Abdumalik – Young Progressives Party (YPP); Nwanyanwu Daniel Daberechukwu – Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Many pundits have already narrowed the choice between Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso of PDP, LP and NNPP respectively.
Meanwhile, the Middle Belt Forum, a predominantly Christian body in Northern Nigeria, which membership cut across Adamawa and Bauchi states, the home states of Babachir Lawal and Yakubu Dogara, has adopted Peter Obi as their preferred presidential candidate.
LEADERSHIP findings show that states of Nigeria which are generally referred to as belonging to the Middle Belt are: old Plateau (now Plateau and Nasarawa), old Gongola (now Adamawa and Taraba), Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, the Federal Capital Territory, alongside Southern Kaduna, Southern Bauchi, Southern Kebbi, Southern Gombe, Southern Yobe State and Southern Borno, all culturally considered as part of the Middle Belt. For instance, chairman of the Forum, Dr Pogu Bitrus is from Borno State.
The forum equally said it was throwing its weight behind Obi’s candidature because of its belief in “fairness, equity and justice”.
This was disclosed by chairman of the Forum and Convener of Middle Belt for OBIDATTI 2023, Dr Pogu Bitrus, while unveiling Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti as their candidate for the 2023 presidential election at the Rwang Pam Township Stadium, Jos, Plateau State Capital. Bitrus said, “We are here to tell Nigerians that the Middle Belt is fully in support of Peter Obi for the 2023 presidency. We did not just arrive at this point because of sentiment, but it was after a serious consideration of issues in Nigeria in collaboration with the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Afenifere and the Niger Delta Forum, among other socio-cultural groups in the country.”
However, the Northern Christian Leaders in APC have resolved to work with their Muslim counterparts in the North to adopt one of the presidential candidates in a bid to defeat the same faith Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the APC.
Their resolution was contained in a communique jointly signed by former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State and Minister of Water Resources Mukhari Shagari and Yakubu Dogara. The communique was the outcome of their consultative meeting and dialogue between Northern APC Christian leaders and Northern Muslim political leaders held on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at
NAF Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja.
The meeting was in line with the APC Northern Christian leaders’ communique issued on July 29, 2022, which solicited an agreement between it and Muslim brothers and sisters across the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). At the end of the meeting, it was resolved that, “We have agreed to work together with a view to fostering unity, peace and national cohesion.” The communique noted that the meeting further resolved, “to work together and jointly adopt a pan-Nigerian political platform that will engender unity, inclusiveness and a sense of belonging among the Nigerian citizenry.
Interestingly, Mukhari Shagari, one of the signatories of the communique, is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who recently revealed that he turned down the offer to become the running mate of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Mr Peter Obi. He said that he turned down the offer to be a running mate to Peter Obi, because according to him Obi cannot win the presidential election.
Shagari said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today insisting that the Labour Party candidate stands no chance in the forthcoming polls. Does that mean that the Northern Christians in APC has adopted the PDP presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar? The answer is still hanging in the air because the communique did not state so.
As Northern Christians these APC leaders are also under the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) which did not only oppose the same faith ticket of APC but has gone ahead to give criteria that presidential candidates must meet before they could be qualified to deserve the vote of Christians in 2023.
In July, CAN directed all churches in Nigeria to advise their members to vote against presidential candidates who have been linked to hard drugs, Boko Haram, corruption or any violent religious groups before. This was disclosed in a circular which emanated from the Political and Strategy Committee of CAN and was sent to all churches in Nigeria.
According to the circular, titled “2023 General Elections; Whom To Vote For,” CAN enumerated qualities that the presidential candidate must possess and the policies that should either be implemented or rejected. Among the qualities CAN said Christians should look out for in a candidate are honesty, truthfulness, respect for the rule of law, respect for religious and ethnic diversity, compassion, disciplined and credibility. The body said the candidate must not be a member of any cult, and must not have any involvement with drugs, witchcraft, Boko Haram or any violent religious group. CAN said the candidate is required to have performed excellently in previous positions, must have good education sufficient to manage a complex society, and have effective management skills of human and natural resources.
All eyes are on the aggrieved Northern Christian Leaders in APC in the weeks ahead to announce their preferred presidential candidate after their nationwide consultations, which will inevitably raise a lot of dust.
