Says adoption will not augur well both for APC, Nigeria
Why VP was absent at APC rally on Tuesday
An informed source in the Presidency confided in The Point on Tuesday that the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has expressed a serious objection to the adoption of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the presidential flag bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The source disclosed that the Vice President has warned that such an adoption would not augur well both for the party and the nation.
Osinbajo was said to have expressed a serious objection to the adoption of Kashim Shettima as running mate to Tinubu.
According to the source, “Prof. Osinbajo is opposed to this thing announced on Sunday, and his objections are well known both to the party and even the flag bearer himself.”
The presidential source disclosed that the Vice President had initially opposed a Muslim- Muslim ticket in 2014, even before what later turned out as his own eventual nomination as the Vice President by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was reported then to have pointedly explained to Tinubu that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would simply alienate the Christians in Nigeria.
Buhari also shared that position and rejected overtures to name Tinubu as his running mate after emerging as the presidential candidate.
Buhari’s view then was that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would clearly alienate the Christian community across the country at a time when religious sensibilities had become so widespread.
Many believe that such sensibilities may have even deepened further, eight years after.
The informed source said that the Vice President had again recently advised the APC chieftains and the flag bearer to avoid an unbalanced ticket, arguing that such would simply be an untenable and unnecessary risk.
The Vice President was said to have explained that “the logic, fairness and justice of a balanced ticket is unassailable. The argument that merit should be considered above a Muslim- Christian balance presents a false choice. It is not one or the other. You can get all the merit you want in a balanced ticket.”
In addition, the Vice President was said to have affirmed the view, saying “anything short of a balanced ticket would create needless tension and further aggravate some of the country’s already sore fault- lines.
It was also learnt that it was the reason he couldn’t attend the grand rally at Osogbo, Osun State on Tuesday.
“He was billed to be in Osogbo. He was ready to go but he was prevailed upon to drop the idea. After all, what will he be telling people in Osogbo? So the VP is in a dilemma as we speak. He cannot justify this before his constituency.
You see how many people have resigned their membership of the party. That’s to tell you that it is not a popular decision that is appealing to all across the party,” the source stated.
As the political tensions brew, fresh talks of political realignments were already buzzing since after the announcement on Sunday as the New Nigeria’s People Party and its presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso are renewing the plan to build a coalition with the Vice President in what is seen as an opportunity to offer a credible and faith-balanced option in next year’s Presidential election.
Another source said a meeting to explore such a possibility is now in the works.
Also, Christian leaders including major denomination heads are now said to be considering reaching out to eminent Nigerians, former presidents and even top party chieftains across some of the leading political parties in the country on the need to offer the Nigerian electorate a “saner option which does not relegate any religion to a perpetual second class.”
Another Presidential source who pleaded for anonymity said “APC may have shot itself in the foot with this kind of ticket, and the tensions going on in the party and the country since the announcement was made is a bad thing.
“There are some Northern Christians with electoral value but Tinubu had always wanted to “recreate” the MKO effect.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, did not immediately respond to The Point’s request for comment on the issue.
