Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi West) has said that a bill seeking to ban same-faith presidential ticket will pacify those who are aggrieved with the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The nomination of Senator Kashim Shettima, a Muslim from the North, as the running mate to APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, also a Muslim from the South, had received a bashing from some groups, especially the Christian community.
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The critics of the same-faith ticket had accused the APC of moves to relegate Christians, a claim repeatedly dismissed by the party’s leadership.
But Senator Adeyemi is now seeking an amendment to the Electoral Act, 2022 to ban political parties from fielding single-faith presidential ticket.
Speaking while featuring on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Adeyemi said the proposed amendment to the electoral law was to give the two main religions a sense of belonging and that there was no deliberate attempt to oppress any other faith.
“I came up with this bill because of the reactions that APC Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket generated.
“As a party man, I want the APC to win election. In order to pacify the Christian community, we need to assure that it is not a policy that will stay.
“A number of Christians who are raising issues with the APC’s same-faith presidential ticket kept quiet when they heard about this bill. It was like a succour,” he said.
