The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has kicked against any plans by political parties in the country to field Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim presidential candidates in 2023.
The Christian association made this known on Friday in a statement by its National Secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola.
The two major political parties (the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)) have produced 2 Muslims, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar respectively as their presidential candidates.
There are reports that Atiku is searching for a southern Christian to balance his ticket.
Information also emerged on Friday that the APC is looking to pair Tinubu with a strong Muslim northerner ahead of the 2023 election.
CAN asked that a balance of both religions be considered in the choice of running mates of the presidential candidates.
The association said: “We do not subscribe to Christian/Christian ticket or Muslim-Muslim ticket. Politicians can talk politics but we have stated our view long before now. Any party that tries same religion ticket will fail. This is not 1993. Even when we have joint Muslim-Christian ticket, the church still goes through hell. Only God knows the number of Christians that have been killed in the last seven years with no one apprehended or prosecuted.
“Imagine how bad it will be if we have two Muslims in power? The extant Nigerian Constitution promotes religious balance. So, if any political party wants to try Muslim-Muslim ticket, it’s at it’s own peril. CAN is only forewarning, but will make a categorical statement in the event our warning is not heeded.”
CAN added that the presidential running mate for Tinubu should be a Christian from the North, Atiku’s running mate should be a Christian from the South while Obi should choose his own among the Muslims from the North.
The Association noted that anything contrary to the balanced pairing means that the leadership of these political parties do not care about the unity of this entity called Nigeria.
“Those who are planning Muslim-Muslim ticket should also find out what was the outcome of MKO Abiola and Kingibe ticket in 1993. If they try Muslim-Muslim ticket this time around, the outcome will be worse because our fault lines are very visible.
CAN added that, “There is no party that has no great, good and patriotic Christians who can preside over the affairs of this nation not to talk of being the Vice President as some mischievous people are trying to say. If merit and competence are used as yardsticks, we have many qualified Christians in all the 774 Local Government Areas of this country.”
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