By Adeleye Kunle
Tinubu and Osinbajo ALL Progressives Congress Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s choice of former Lagos State Governor Senator Kashim Shettima on a Muslim-Muslim ticket has put the former Lagos State Governor at odds with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is said to have warned that such an adoption would not bode well for the party or the country.
According to a Presidency source, Osinbajo has expressed strong opposition to the adoption of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Professor Osinbajo is opposed to this thing announced on Sunday, and his objections are well known both to the party and even the flagbearer himself,” the source said, adding that the VP opposed a Muslim-Muslim ticket even before his eventual nomination as VP in 2014.
Then, according to reports, he told Tinubu that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would simply isolate Christians. Later, President Buhari, the then-APC flagbearer, agreed and rejected overtures to name Tinubu as his running mate after emerging as the presidential candidate.
According to an informed source, Osinbajo recently advised APC chieftains and Tinubu to avoid an unbalanced ticket, arguing that it would be untenable and unnecessary risk.
“The VP explained the logic, fairness, and justice of a balanced ticket is unassailable,” the source said. The argument that merit should take precedence over a Muslim-Christian balance is a false choice. It is not a choice between the two. In a balanced ticket, you can get all the merit you want.
“The vice president stated that anything less than a balanced ticket creates unnecessary tension and aggravates some of the country’s fault lines.” A balanced ticket, on the other hand, sends a strong signal.”
As political tensions rose, new talk of political realignments began to circulate shortly after the announcement on Sunday, with some other registered parties reportedly planning to form a new coalition with Vice President Osinbajo in what is seen as an opportunity to offer a credible and faith-balanced option in next year’s presidential election. According to a source, a meeting to discuss such a possibility is currently being planned.
“The APC may have shot itself in the foot with this kind of ticket, and the tensions that have been building in the party and the country since the announcement are a bad thing,” the source said.
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