Northern Christian and Muslim clerics have enlisted support for the executive secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) to serve as running mate to Chief Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming presidential poll.
The clerics who spoke at a one day roundtable discussion in Abuja said there was the need for a harmonious and balanced ticket for the APC at the polls.
Bishop Sunday Garuba who spoke on behalf of the Christian clerics said the outcome of the APC primary had brought to the fore the need for the party to do all within its means to ensure a balanced presidential ticket that would stand the test of time and guarantee electoral victory.
He said the Nigerian Clerics Consultative Forum convoked the general assembly to deliberate on the issue of a balanced and harmonious presidential ticket that would guarantee electoral victory for the party. Garuba said it was due to the various agitations on the choice of the vice presidential candidate of the APC.
“This is informed by the need for a balanced ticket with the overarching objective of ensuring that the ethno-religious balance of the country is achieved. The necessity of ethno-religious balance cannot be overemphasised, hence the various agitations within the APC on the need for the party to get it right regarding its vice-presidential candidate.
“The consultative assembly allowed Christian and Muslim clerics from various parts of the country to lend their objective voice to the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.
“Deliberations on the suitability of a Muslim-Muslim ticket were scrutinized objectively by clerics in attendance,” he said.
The representative of the Muslim clerics, Sheikh Surajo Abdullahi, said the APC’s choice of presidential flag bearer for the presidential election confirmed Allah’s revelations regarding the personality that would lead Nigeria on the right track.
He described Aswaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a team player with an unflinching religious and ethnic tolerance, as evident in the fact that his wife is an ordained pastor of one of the largest pentecostal churches in Nigeria.
He urged the APC presidential candidate to ensure that the choice of his running mate would reflect national balance and harmony.
He added that the choice of Reverend Yakubu Pam who is a well-respected cleric from Northern Nigeria fits the bill as the vice presidential candidate for his pedigree at advocating religious and ethnic tolerance in Northern Nigeria.
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