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Tinubu: Why I didn’t choose a Christian running mate; as CAN fumes over Muslim-Muslim ticket

Bola Tinubu, Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has defended his choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate, explaining that he could not choose a Christian and a Muslim at the same time.

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Prior to the unveiling of Shettima, the polity was heated up over single-faith ticket.

Speaking on settling for Shettima, Tinubu said all his life, decisions regarding the team around and supporting him had always been guided by the principles of competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness, and adherence to excellence.

He said he consulted widely on the issue of running mate and he appreciated the perspectives of leading members of the party, political allies and key national figures “who see Nigeria’s future as I do”.

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“I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this. Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Other have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both.”

“Both sides of the debate have impressive reason and passionate arguments supporting their position. Both arguments are right in their own way. But neither is right in the way that Nigeria needs at the moment. As president, I hope to govern this nation toward uncommon progress. This will require innovation. It will require steps never before taken. It will also require decisions that are politically difficult and rare.

“If I am to be that type of President, I must begin by being that type of candidate. Let me make the bold and innovative decision not to win political points but to move the nation and our party’s campaign closer to the greatness that we were meant to achieve.

“Here is where politics ends, and true leadership must begin. Today, I announce my selection with pride because I have made it not based on religion or to please one community or the other. I made this choice because I believe this is the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period, regardless of their religious affiliation or considerations of ethnicity or region.”

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“May I say this to all of you, especially to those who will be disappointed in my selection based on religious considerations. I will not and cannot ignore the religious concerns and ethnic sensitivities of our people. Taking them into due consideration is an important part of good and able governance. But religion, ethnicity and region cannot always and fully determine our path. To forge ahead as a nation toward development and prosperity, we must break free of old binds. We must recalibrate our political calculations to where competence and fairness matter more than reductive demographics.”

Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria has frowned at the selection of former governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Ahmed Tinubu.

Before now, there had been warnings from CAN, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Civil Society Organisations against fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.

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Speaking in an interview on Sunday, CAN’s spokesperson, Adebayo Oladeji, said making such a decision in a polarised country was a wrong move.

He stated that if having a pastor as the vice president of the country and Christian clerics and worshipers are being killed , the security of lives and properties of Christians under a Muslim-Muslim could not be guaranteed.

He said, “We knew this was what he was going to do and we have warned against it. It is up to Nigerians to decide on what they want.

“You are all alive when we warned Buhari not to allow Muslims to dominate the security architecture of the country and he did it. I think we can see the way the criminals are operating with impunity.

“So, if Tinubu says he is opting for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a polarised country like ours , if Nigerians endorse him and vote for him, whatever happens, Nigerians will face the consequences.

“If you have a government where a pastor is a vice president and pastors and worshipers are being killed you can imagine what will happen when we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“It is left to Nigerians to make their choice, let them vote them in and we will all face the consequences together.

“We are raising our alarm. It is an irony that Buhari they regarded as an extremist when we raised an alarm to warn him against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, he heeded and opted for a christian as his vice presidential candidate.”