*North Central, not North West deserves vice-president slot, says APC stakeholders
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
A group under the aegis, Nigeria Democracy Defence Watch, has written President Muhammadu Buhari, and warned that a Muslim-Muslim ticket being mulled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) portended danger to national stability.
In a seven-page letter titled: ”APC’s Muslim/Muslim Ticket in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: A Threat to National Stability, Regional Peace and Security”, the group said it would only portray Nigeria as an Islamic and a sectarian nation.
The letter made available to journalists yesterday and jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Ahmed Adamu and the National Secretary, Niyi Adegoke, said, Muslim/Muslim ticket would be resisted by millions of practicing Christians, moderate and progressive Muslims and civic groups, ethno-cultural associations and enlightened members of the International community.
“It is pertinent to note the serious implications of the above with regards to security. This is especially, when one rightly imagines that Christians will feel threatened with a Muslim/Muslim ticket, and may resort to pulpit preaching and mobilisation of opinions across the Christendom.
“Civil society organisations and students would likely protest this destructive introduction into our polity in various manners, which may constitute security concerns. However, it should be noted that the ‘original sin’ is the adoption of a Muslim/Muslim ticket by the ruling APC, and not the reactions and responses that may follow it,” it stated
The group, therefore, urged Buhari to prevail on the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to tread with caution and refrain from his unyielding desire to foist on the nation, a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
In a related development, some APC stakeholders from the North East region, have urged the ruling party to pick the vice-presidential candidate of the party from the North Central.
Addressing journalists after an emergency stakeholders’ meeting held on Sunday in Abuja, its National Coordinator, Abba Suleiman, said picking the running mate from North Central would afford the party to win the 2023 presidential election and position it as a party known for fairness, equity and justice.
He noted that demand by North West APC leaders was not only misplaced, but a gross display of insensitivity to the relevance of other regions in the scheme of things in the party.
Sulieman insisted that the party leadership must ensure fairness by zoning the vice presidential candidate to the North Central, stressing that it was insensitive for the North-West region, which had been in power for the last seven years to still be demanding for the slot.
