Christians from across the 19 northern States in Nigeria stormed the Aso Villa State House Abuja, to protest the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Over 10, 000 protesters, under the aegis of All Christians Community of Northern Nigeria, marched to the Presidential Villa to submit a protest letter to the Federal Government over Tinubu’s choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate.
Leader of the group, Moses Adams, described the move by APC to adopt a Muslim-Muslim ticket as insensitive and the height of discrimination against Christians in the country, maintaining that these are indeed not the best times for Christians in the APC and Nigeria at large.
According to him, “Our sensibilities have been insulted by the ambition of a select few that have elected to throw caution into the wind. As you may be aware, Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state. The two major religions in the country are Islam and Christianity, and these have defined our way of life since the country attained independence in 1960. Successive governments in the country have respected the multi-religious nature of the country, especially during elections, to create a balance in the leadership of the country.
“We are therefore alarmed by the decision of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC) to disregard the Christian community in the choice of its vice presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential elections. Without mincing words, this is unacceptable and a recipe for creating sharp divides between the Muslims and the Christians in the country.” He said
“Mr. President, since the return of democracy in 1999 in Nigeria, the tradition has been a Muslim-Christian or Christian-Muslim paring by all political parties. And this has to a large extent, ensured religious harmony in the country. However, the move by our party to adopt a Muslim-Muslim ticket is most insensitive and the height of discrimination against Christians in our country. This is on the heels that other political parties indeed reflected the religious balance in the composition of their presidential team.
“The APC has also displayed religious intolerance that would eventually bring about religious tension in the country if not reversed in the overarching objective of entrenching peace and tranquillity. As stakeholders in the APC, we know that there are credible Christians in the APC from northern Nigeria and other parts of the country who are dedicated and have outstanding credentials that could make the vice presidential slot.” Adams maintained.
The Christian group said Northern Christians were displeased and angered by APC’s insensitivity, which goes to show that Christians are not relevant in the scheme of things in the country.
While stressing that the move by the APC was intended to cause a crisis of unimaginable proportion along ethno-religious lines, the group however appealed to the President to intervene in reversing the ignoble move by the party’s Presidential Candidate.
“We demand that you invite the Presidential candidate of the party to quickly retrace his steps immediately.” The group stressed.