10,000 northern Christians march on Aso Rock asking Buhari to reverse Muslim-Muslim ticket

OVER 10,000 northern Christians marched on Abuja yesterday to protest the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to opt for a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket ahead of next year's general elections.

Former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Tinubu, emerged as the APC presidential candidate after coasting home in a landslide victory following the party's convention in Abuja last month. Following his victory, he laboured to select a running mate after publicly declaring that he will pick a Christian from the northeast geo-political zone as his deputy but the process appeared fraught with difficulty.

Last Sunday, however, after weeks of prevarication, Asiwaju Tinubu, himself a Muslim, ended up selecting a fellow Muslim in former Borno State governor Senator Kashim Shettima. His choice has polarised the country as the Christian faithful feel highly marginalised and already, several senior party members have left the APC over the matter.

With the development raising the political temperature, northern Christians decided to take action yesterday by organising a protest march. These 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 the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the APC.

Moses Adams, the leader of the group, said these are indeed not the best times for Christians in the APC and Nigeria in general. He said the sensibilities of Christians have been insulted by the ambition of a select few that have elected to throw caution to the wind.

According to Mr Adams,  Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state, with Islam and Christianity as the two major religions which have defined the country’s way of life since independence. He added that successive governments have respected the country’s multi-religious nature, especially during elections, to create a balance in the leadership of the nation.

Mr Adams said the decision of the APC)to disregard the Christian community in the choice of its vice presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential election was, therefore, unacceptable and a recipe for creating sharp divides between the Muslims and the Christians in the country. He pointed out that since the return to democracy in 1999 in Nigeria, the tradition has been a Muslim-Christian or Christian-Muslim pairing by all political parties, which had to a large extent, ensured religious harmony in the country.

While describing the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket as the height of discrimination against Christians, Mr Adams mentioned that other political parties reflected religious balance in the composition of their presidential team. He said he wondered why the APC elected to toe this path of dishonour that is a deliberate attempt to relegate the Christians in Nigeria into oblivion, which is not in the best interest of the country.

In addition, the 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. It appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and help reverse the ignoble move.