By Maria Famakinwa

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Nigerians have continued to react to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the next year general election. It would be recalled that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim, who emerged the party’s standard bearer for next year presidential election last week unveiled the former Governor of Bornu State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who is also a Muslim as his running mate.

This development had since been generating controversies among Nigerians. While some bemoan the insensitivity of the APC in featuring a Muslim-Muslim Presidential ticket, some others argued that what matter most is to have competent leaders who can put the country on the right path. One of those who urged Nigerians to vote for capacity instead of religious consideration is the Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who called on Nigerians to vote for capacity and competence in the 2023 Presidential election, saying that the religion of the Vice President does not affect performance in any government.

Akeredolu who expressed confidence that the Presidential candidate of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would rescue the nation added that the work stops on the table of the President.  His words“ It is the President that you are voting for. He decides what happens. Whether it is a Muslim/Muslim or Christian/Christian, it should not matter to us in the South because we fought for this. I have no doubt that given the opportunity, from what he has done in Lagos, Asiwaju Tinubu will turn things around for the better,” he said.

In the view of a renown  controversial   clergy who is the serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church and former A PC presidential aspirant, Pst  Tunde Bakare, Christian leaders should  approach the issue in question and broaden context of the 2023 elections with civility, clarity and with continued hope in the possibilities of a united Nigeria. He urged Nigerians to prioritize nation building ahead of ethnic or religious sentiment.

While appealing to Nigerians to show maturity in decision-making which  give every Nigerian a sense of belonging said, “As standard-bearers of the message of the New Nigeria, we dream of a nation in which every Nigerian will be judged not by their ethnicity, political learning, regional affiliation or religious persuasion, but by the content of their character, as Dr. Martin Luther king Jr, once proclaimed in respect of his nation, the United States of America.

“We dream of a Nigeria where there will no longer be indigene or settler but only a Nigerian citizen. We dream of a Nigeria where state of residence will replace state of origin in our official forms and where zoning or Federal Character will become archival aspects of our journey into political maturity.”

Bakare said that the pillar of Northern Nigerian politics, the late Premier of Northern Nigerian, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, recognized this moral obligation which made him  to ensure that due consideration is given to diversity of persuasions in public policy. Hence, his statement to the people  of Northern Nigeria in a unifying message.

Sharing a similar view, A former Commissioner of Education in Ondo State and Afenifere Chieftain, Chief Femi Aluko, advised Nigerians  to be more interested in good governance than religion or ethnicity affiliation.

He said,” We should not over centralized the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket but rather be concerned about competent leader that  will be ready to unite the country and solve the country’s challenges.”

Viewing it differently, The Chairman, Church Leaders and Ministers Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Abel Aiyedogbon, condemned the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the APC on the basis that it tramples  on the religious rights of Nigerian.

He said, “Our political leaders are not sensitive to the feelings of the citizens of the country because the behaviour of the political class most of the time evidently shows that personal ambition and interest are the overriding goal and not patriotism.

“How will anybody think about fielding candidates of the same religion for the first and the second place when the constitution of the country recognises  secularity?

“One will not be wrong to say that trampling on the religious rights of Nigerian is manifest in the idea of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which some people are now championing. It should be noted that people maligned and presented as inconsequential are not likely to forget. The suggestion of a Muslim-Muslim ticket is all about impunity and a callous lack of consideration for others.”

A business woman who simply want to be addressed as a concerned  citizen, said that it was not possible to divorce religion from politics because every Nigeria belong to one religion or the other.

She said: “If religion is not important, why are we still experiencing killings in the name of religion? Why is a particular ethic group lording over others claiming to have the support of power that be? It is only when we want to be economical with the truth that we tend to play down the importance of religion in politics. If religion is not important, President Buhari would not have picked Vice President Yemi  Osinbajo, as his running mate. Despite having a Christian Vice President, Christian are daily been killed in the Northern part of the country with nothing done to address the situation. I can tell you that the situation will be worse if we have same religion as President and Vice President.”

When reminded that the late Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 Presidential election presented a Muslim-Muslim ticket said: “Nigeria situation then was different from now. There was no killing under the guise of religion as we are experiencing now because then, both Muslims and Christians voted for Abiola. We saw ourselves as one. Unlike now when the country is divided due to  religious  and ethnic affiliations. For me, Muslim-Muslim ticket cannot survive the present situation in the country, and most Christians are not happy about it. Does it mean that we don’t have any Christian who can fit into that position? The present security situation in the country does not favour the idea of same religious faith  for the number one and two positions in the country,” she said.