The APC Choice of Running Mate and the Impending Danger of a Monotonous Religious Ticket -By Ibrahim Obel Yaji

I have personally been worried about those who have been supporting the idea of the Muslim – Muslim ticket in the APC of late. Such a ticket would obviously sending 2 very dangerous message which would further divide this country into deeper religious lines.

First of all, It’s quite very hypocritical that the same people like Mallam Nasir Elrufai who insisted power should be shifted to the South on basis of fairness and justice is now telling the world not consider fairness with respect to religion in choice of a running mate, rather competence and capacity should be considered. If I may ask, If Tinubu should go ahead and pick an Igbo man who is competent for the job, would people like Elrufai support it ? We must accept the fact that people are not dump and stupid. And people like Elrufai should stop using religion or regionalism to advance their personal interest.

The first dangerous message this would send is the fact that Northern Muslims don’t believe in Tinubu’s or Yoruba Islam to represent the interest of Islam in the govt, infact northern Muslims supporting Muslim – Muslim ticket are implying that Tinubu or Yoruba Muslims are not Muslims enough, because if you do then you won’t be worried about picking a northern Muslim again.
You might struggle to defend this but this is exactly the message you are sending to all yoruba Muslims and Nigerians at large.

Secondly, you are implying that Northern Christians are not northern enough. We might speak the Hausa language like you the northern Muslims or have the same culture or even work politically but when it’s said and done we are not northerners, we are on our own. Probably we would need to begin conversations on who is a “Northerner” and what defines being a northerner, perhaps only northern Muslims should be called northerners. Again, arguing that putting a Christian northerner on the ticket would make APC lose the elections defines your deep fanaticism and religious bigotry and nothing more. Talking about competence, does Elrufai mean there are no northern Christians who are competent enough to be VP?

All this gosple of acceptance or popularity of northern christians is a pretentious way of saying northern Christians won’t be accepted in the North because of their religion, because PYO was not popular before becoming VP to Buhari in 2015. Just to ask, Was there no other Muslim yorubas who where more competent before he was picked in 2015? Religious sensitivity was considered in 2015 but it should not be considered in 2023? What changed ? The politics or the people?

If there is a hidden agenda come out and say it and stop beating round the bush. Nigeria is a religious country and religious issues must be treated with caution, considerations must be made along these lines in other to maintain our unity. Nigeria belongs to all of us, no Nigerian is more Nigerian than other Nigerians, let’s not use politics to further divide our nation’s unity.

If we keep insisting and making southern Muslims feel less of their nationality or northern Christians less of being Nigerians then we are obviously saying it’s best we seperate as a nation and go our separate ways.

These factors might be different at local or state politics but we must be able to do better when it comes to national politics. Let’s do well to speak and advocate for a religious balance.