Religion Should Not Be a Factor in Choosing VP Candidate, Say APC Chieftains

Some chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress, have argued that religion should not be a factor in the consideration of the party’s vice-presidential candidate.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal and other stakeholders had kicked against the Muslim-Muslim ticket, insisting that ethnoreligious factors are still very much relevant in Nigerian politics. But the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai believed that competence should be a major consideration and not religion.

A National Vice Chairman of the party, Dr Salihu Lukman, in a statement issued Saturday said kicking against the Muslim-Muslim ticket was a backward national mindset, which must be changed.

He said as important as ethnic and religious identities are, addressing challenges facing the country requires that political leaders are not allowed to ride on cheap sentiments of religion and ethnicity to opportunistically win elections.

“If choices of leaders are dictated by ethnoreligious factors, Nigerian politics will continue to be disadvantageous to many sections of the country. For instance, only Christian Southerners and Muslim Northerners will continue to have advantages.

The Deputy National Organising Secretary of the party, Hon. Nze Duru told THISDAY that consultations were still ongoing in the party regarding the issue of the running mate.

He added that it remains the prerogative of the candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu to choose a running mate that would complement his strength.
“What is important for Nigeria today is good governance, creating the level-playing field; giving hope to the people of this country,” Duru explained.
On his part, former National Vice Chairman of APC, South-south, Hilliard Etta, said he did not predicate his politics on religion or ethnic consideration.

He said: “If my politics was considered on ethnic considerations. I would have worked and voted for (Rotimi) Amaechi. He’s from my zone; I don’t care about those kinds of things. Those are the things that have held Nigeria down,” he added.

In his contribution, the former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena, stated that the important factor is the personality involved and not his religion.

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