Presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, respectively have been accused of daring Christians and the people of South East.
A group, Advocates for Societal Rebirth and Good Governance, ASRG, in a statement in Enugu and signed by its Coordinator, Ferdinand Ogwo, said Tinubu and Atiku,”have shown bad faith to Christians and the South East by adopting a Muslim/Muslim ticket and defying the zoning arrangement of the presidency respectively. They have also taken them for a ride.
Recall that Tinubu, a Muslim and APC Presidential flag-bearer had selected former Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, another Muslim, as his Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential elections.
ASRG accused “Tinubu of daring and ignoring over 80 million Christians in the country
“Same faith Presidency or Muslim/Muslim ticket is unacceptable. We will soon proceed to the law courts to challenge Tinubu’s action of selecting another Muslim as his Running Mate for the 2023 presidential election because his action is unconstitutional.
“This is a clear indication that Christians in Nigeria have been either fooled by Asiwaju or taken for a ride
The group argued that Tinubu’s action is unconstitutional, stating that political parties must comply to chapter two of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), to have their presidential and vice presidential candidates from different sectional, (tribal and religious groups) of the nation.
The ASRG also took a swipe at the presidential candidate of the PDP, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, arguing that the latter, defied the zoning arrangement of the PDP which stipulates rotating the presidency between the North and the South.
“It is an established fact that the PDP has a zoning formula since its inception in 1999. And it has stuck to this principle since then. It is therefore strange for Atiku Abubakar to defy the zoning arrangement in the PDP, at a period the presidential ticket of the party should be conceded to the South, particularly the South East, which has not produced a President for the country.
“Atiku Abubakar should have supported the presidential candidacy of one of the presidential aspirants from the South, preferably the South East, if he truly believes in the tenets of fairplay, justice and equity.
“The PDP is also complicit for throwing the presidential ticket of the party open to all aspirants from the North and the South, when it is clearly the turn of the South- East to produce the party’s presidential candidate
“Atiku and Tinubu have both taken Nigerians for a ride, particularly the South East and the Christians in the country” part of the statement read.
