Muslim youths of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have rejected former Borno State Governor Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the leader of the APC Muslim youths, Abdullahi Saleh, asked the party’s presidential candidate to replace Shettima with a Christian political leader or cleric from the North.
While stating that they reject a Muslim-Muslim ticket, Saleh admitted that Tinubu reserves the right to make decisions regarding his choice of running mate.
He said the group finds it worrisome that such a decision could be taken without recourse to its implication on the party’s electoral chances and the attendant uproar such a decision could bring about in the country.
“It is also worrisome that of all the country’s political parties, only the APC presented a Muslim-Muslim ticket. In our opinion, this is insensitive and a gross display of a lack of respect for our Christian brothers and sisters,” the APC Muslim youths leader said.
“This is on the heels that the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a Muslim from South West Nigeria, and picking another Muslim from the northern part of the country as his running mate is politically and morally indefensible.
We hold the firm conviction that such a move can boomerang with unpleasant consequences for the APC at the general elections, hence the need for the party’s leadership to make haste to correct this error of judgment.”
Speaking further, he noted that there are credible candidates with rich credentials and with a massive grassroots following in the north that can complement the presidential ticket of the APC.
Saleh said the 19 APC states Northern Muslims Forum sees the selection of Senator Kashim Shettima as an aberration that should be corrected with immediate effect by the relevant authorities within the party.
“The implication of non-action in this regard can only be imagined, so much so that the majority of the eligible voters in Northern Nigeria have elected to boycott the APC in protest of the disrespect and disregard to Northern Christians, whose population and relevance in the scheme of things in the region cannot be overemphasized.
As a group, we wish to state unequivocally that we reject the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as the vice presidential candidate of the APC.
“This decision hinged on the need to ensure a balance in the presidential ticket of the APC, as it has been since the return of democracy in 1999.
The APC must respect the religious diversity of the country. We hold the opinion that emphasis must be placed on ensuring a united house before the elections and not a fragmented house,” he added.
The group urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu to replace the vice presidential candidate of the APC with a Christian.
They stated that the ruling party must not be perceived as promoting a religious agenda by fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The APC Muslim youths describe the Muslim-Muslim ticket as a recipe for the entrenchment of mutual suspicion between the Muslims and the Christians in the country, which won’t augur well for relative peace and tranquillity.
“We consequently say no to a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to kindly intervene to save the party from an electoral crisis. We urge Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emulate the example of President Muhammadu Buhari in the choice of his running mate in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections,” he said.
