NO RELIGIOUS MARGINALISATION UNDER TINUBU, APC CHIEFTAIN CLAIMS
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By; Sunmola Ganiyat
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Farouk Aliyu, has said many Christians in Nigeria are now more comfortable with the party’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket than they were before the 2023 general election.
Aliyu made the remark during an appearance on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday while defending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
According to him, the Tinubu administration has addressed concerns that Christians would be marginalised under a government led by two Muslim leaders.
Aliyu recalled that the APC’s decision to field Tinubu and Shettima as its presidential ticket in 2023 generated significant criticism from various Christian groups and sections of the public.
He argued, however, that those fears have not materialised since the administration assumed office.
According to Aliyu, President Tinubu has governed as a Nigerian leader without showing religious bias.
The APC chieftain also said the party was satisfied with retaining Shettima as vice-presidential candidate, noting that altering the ticket could have created unnecessary political complications within the party.
He expressed confidence that Nigerians would once again support the Tinubu-Shettima ticket in the 2027 presidential election.
The APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 sparked widespread debate because both Tinubu, from the South-West, and Shettima, from the North-East, are Muslims.
Christian organisations, including the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, had opposed the arrangement, arguing that it failed to reflect Nigeria’s religious diversity and the tradition of balancing presidential tickets along religious lines.
The APC, however, maintained that the choice was based on competence and electoral strategy rather than religion. Tinubu and Shettima subsequently won the 2023 presidential election and were sworn into office on May 29, 2023.
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