A coalition of stakeholders from the North East has asked the top echelon of the APC and the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 polls, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to pick a loyal party man from the North Central to fill the vice presidential slot.
The resolution was reached on Sunday during an emergency meeting of the North East APC Stakeholders Coalition held in Abuja.
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Addressing newsmen at the end of their meeting, the National Coordinator of the coalition, Alhaji Abba Aji Suleiman, said the party would have better chances of winning the 2023 presidential poll if Tinubu’s running mate was picked from the North Central.
The coalition argued that it was the turn of the North Central to fill the position for the sake of fairness, equity and justice, faulting agitations that the North West should fill the VP slot ahead of the 2023 polls.
Suleiman said, “The North West has been in the corridors of power in the last seven years of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, and for such demand to be made indeed speaks volumes of gross insensitivity.
“It is the considered view of stakeholders in the North East that it would only be fair and just if the vice presidential slot to the North Central given the numerous contributions of the region to the growth and development of the party.
“The stakeholders must come to terms with the fact that the North Central hasn’t had a shot at the highest level of governance since the return of democracy in 1999. This time has presented that unique opportunity that must be utilised in the party’s best interest.
“The North-West APC stakeholders must also realise that the objective of the party is to secure a landslide victory at the polls, and if that is indeed the case, would it make any sense if a region that has been represented adequately in the last 10 years also demand the vice presidential slot?”
Muslim/Muslim ticket will portray Nigeria as Islamic nation – CSO
Meanwhile, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Nigeria Democracy Defence Watch, yesterday warned about the danger of the APC fielding Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim, and his running mate also a Muslim ahead of the 2023 general polls.
In a seven-page letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, the CSO said the Muslim/Muslim ticket would portray Nigeria as an Islamic and sectarian nation.
In the letter, signed by the National Coordinator and Secretary of the CSO, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Adamu and Otunba Adeniji Niyi Adegoke, respectively, it also warned that cultural associations and enlightened members of the international community would resist the move.
The Defence Watch in the letter titled: “APC’s Muslim/Muslim Ticket in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: A Threat to National Stability, Regional Peace and Security”, said it was worried more particularly the international dimension it was taking with a recent letter by five United States senators to the US senate where they called for readmission of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) due to the worsening sectarian violence in the country.
The US senators observed that “horrific acts of deadly violence have been committed against Nigerian Christians in recent weeks, including the massacre of churchgoers on Pentecost Sunday and the stoning of a Christian college student.
Part of the letter reads: “The Nigeria Democracy Defence Watch is therefore calling on President Buhari to direct the security forces to do the needful by advising Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling party on the possible threats this action could pose to security in the country.
“It is pertinent to note the serious implications of the above with regards to security. This is especially when one rightly imagines that Christians will feel threatened with a Muslim/Muslim ticket and may resort to pulpit preaching and mobilisation of opinions across Christendom.
“Civil Society Organisations and students would likely protest this destructive introduction into our polity in various manners which may constitute security concerns. However, it should be noted that the ‘original sin’ is the adoption of a Muslim/Muslim ticket by the ruling APC, and not the reactions and responses that may follow it.”
