By Adeleye Kunle
CHRISTIAN political leaders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC19 )’s Northern States have rejected the party’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, calling it a flagrant violation of the party’s constitution.
The APC Christian leaders declared in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abuja that “the APC party constitution preamble states “will guarantee equal opportunity for all mutual and peaceful co-existence respect and understanding, eliminating all forms of discrimination and social injustice among Nigerians.”
“The meeting noted with concern the resignation of some high profile Christians from the APC across the states of the federation, as a result, with more to follow unless concerted efforts are made to redeem our party from hate mongers and those who seek to exploit religion to perpetuate their self-interests as opposed to the national interest,” according to the communique signed by Professor Doknan Db Sheni and Professor Saidu Ibrahim.
They stated that “in all fairness to our consciences and faith, as Christians within the APC, we cannot go to our various constituencies to campaign for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.”
The Christian leaders of the APC also argued that Nigeria is a multi-religious and constitutional democracy, not a theocracy, with religion as a major national fault line that cannot be manipulated arbitrarily without dire political consequences for our peaceful coexistence as a people.
