Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and former Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, have berated the 2023 presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for his deliberate undermining of the interests of Christians in Nigeria in his presidential ambition. APC Christian members in Northern Nigeria at a summit declared that the Muslim-Muslim joint presidential ticket of Tinubu and Kassim Shettima contradicts all principles of equity, fairness, and justice; they threatened to withdraw their support for the party in the 2023 presidential election.
Dogara, Lawal leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), therefore, enjoined Christians in the North to rise against the Muslim-Muslim ticket injustice of the APC, adding that the ruling party plots to further divide Nigeria.
Lawal had declared: “This is very divisive and must be rejected by all patriotic Nigerians.
“Also implied in this ticket is the insinuation that Northern Muslims are not willing to vote for a ticket that has a Christian on it and on which they are not represented.
“It is our belief that Northern Muslims would have seen the justice in a Muslim-Christian ticket and would have given it their overwhelming support had the party been inclined to do so.
“Sadly, the party chose to go the divisive line.
“A corollary to this mindset is that Christians should also not vote for a ticket on which there are no Christians.”
Dogara had cautioned that “Nigeria is at a dangerous crossroad if an important issue like religion is not properly balanced to reflect the interest of all parties in the country.”