Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Tinubu’s presidential campaign director should be Christian
By Lawal Jet Kaugama
The controversies generated by Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s picking of a Muslim
running mate has not yet died, yet the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains want to create another one. We understand that the
goal of any political party is electoral victory.
APC undoubtedly wants to win the presidential election and all other elections at different levels. If APC really wants to win, it must stop behaving as if the party is for the North and Muslims.
The expectation of APC Christian stakeholders was that Senator Bola
AhmedTinubu, a Muslim from the South, would pick his running mate from among the influential northern Christian politicians.
Based on this expectation, big names like Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Former Speaker, Federal House of Representatives; Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau state and Chairman, Progressive Governors Forum; among others top the list of candidates for Tinubu to choose from. But electoral victory is
the ultimate goal of any political party, therefore, Tinubu and APC
stakeholders, after weighed in on all options on the table, picked
former governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima as his running mate. Thus, APC settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Tinubu’s defence for the Muslim-Muslim ticket is that he picked a man
with the higher political clout, the man who will garner electoral
votes for the party in the 2023 presidential election.
All this sermon is pointing to the issue of the Director General for
Tinubu Presidential Campaign. In my humble opinion, in order to pacify
the Christians, the Director General for APC’s presidential campaign
should not be given to anybody in the Northwest, Northeast or
Northcentral. No matter how influential such personality would be, it would do the APC better to be given to an APC chieftain in the southern part of Nigeria.
People on top of the list are former Transportation minister, Rotimi
Amaechi, Senator Godswill Akpabio and former Edo state governor and
APC chairman, Adams Oshomhole.
Giving the APC campaign director general to any zone in the North
will not serve justice to the southern stakeholders and Christians in
general. APC must not give the DG to Gov Umar Ganduje of Kano state or
Gov Badaru of Jigwa state or Gov Nasiru el Rufai of Kaduna state in
order to pacify the Northwest as is being speculated.
Why will APC pacify a region that has produced the out going president? For what reason? Why won’t APC pacify the Northcentral that has never produced the president or vice president in the current political dispensation? Why not the southeast or the southsouth?
APC must prove its critics wrong that it is not a Muslim party, by beaming its searchlight on influential Christians in the South and choose its presidential campaign director general. APC will douse the suspicion that it
has a hidden agenda if the position is given to a southern Christian.
As the All Progressives Congress and its presidential candidate, Tinubu, have begun deliberating on who to appoint as Director General of the party’s presidential campaign council, it was gathered that the APC and its strategists are looking towards
the Northwest. The move to pick the campaign director from the
Northwest is aimed at pacifying party members from the zone, who are
said to be aggrieved because they lost out in their bid to get the position of APC’s vice presidential candidate.
We understand that Northwest zone has seven states, making it the largest of the country’s six geo-political zones. The zone comprises Kaduna, Kano,Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states.
A source in the camp of the presidential candidate, who preferred anonimity said a decision had been taken to give the presidential campaign DG position to the Northwest, and fingered the
governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i, as the favourite for the role. The name of former National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, was also on the list.
A source close to Tinubu said stakeholders within the ruling party,
including the President; and the Progressives Governors’ Forum would inaugurate two presidential campaign councils, one by the APC and one by Tinubu, but both are going to work together for the party’s common goals.
It is understandable that Nigeria’s problem is not religion but economic
problems like unemployment and harsh living condition as well as mutual intolerance.
There is no gainsaying that the core Muslim North will not accept a Christian as its representative on a presidential ticket. In the light of all this, if Tinubu would have any chance of beating Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election, he has no choice but to choose a Northern Muslim running mate, stakeholders argued.
Therefore, for equity, fairness and justice we should not give a Muslim Tinubu’s presidential campaign director again.
If the North already has a Muslim formidable presidential candidate on a rival party in former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, it is ideal he that he chose a muslim running mate.
Tinubu said he made a hard choice in picking former Borno state
governor, Kashim Shettima, but said Nigeria was at a point where it needed a bold and pragmatic approach, so he believes it is the best choice, made in national interest.
The Christian Association Nigeria said there was no way it would allow its members to vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election. therefore, the best campaign DG for Tinubu should be a christian, not withstanding that Nigeria’s First Lady under Tinubu will be a Christian.
Tinubu’s immediate worry may not be justice and equity, but how to win the 2023 presidential election, but he should start giving justice and equity now, as it is said, if you want to move mountains in future, start picking stones now.
Kaugama, a commentator on national issues, writes from Dutse.