National Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, on Monday, urged the leadership of the ruling party and the Progressive Governors Forum to limit their search for a vice-presidential candidate to a northern Christian.
The APC stakeholders stated this against the backdrop of the raging controversy over a possible Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Convener of the APC National Stakeholders Forum, Aliyu Audu, while speaking at a programme to mark the June 12 Democracy Day, said it had become imperative not to fall for the temptation of presenting another Muslim candidate as running mate.
He said avoiding this grave political error would ensure national inclusion and promote national unity.
According to him, “Why we are conscious of the fact that religion should not be a determining factor in the our leadership selection proces. The peculiar circumstance the nation finds herself calls for reflection in the decisions we take, so long as they bother on our national lives.
“Today, the country is deeply divided within our fault lines of ethnicity and religion and we cannot afford to jettison this sensibility in critical decision making.
“This is why we think that the All Progressives Congress must be guided by the sense of these sensibilities in the selection of the Vice Presidential Candidate of the party.”
Audu warned the APC against going ahead to pick a Muslim running mate for its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is also a Muslim, saying doing so would further fuel division between the masses and enable mischief makers to take advantage of our differences.
He said Nigeria needed good governance, which can be driven by either a Muslim leader or a Christian leader.
Audu added, “But in the spirit of nationalism, justice and fairness which the northern governors demonstrated a few days ago, the leaders of the north on whose shoulder the emergence of the Vice Presidential candidate rests must also demonstrate this spirit by ensuring that the candidate comes from the Christian faith.
“The northern APC has in its fold capable individuals from the Christian faith with proven track record that can deliver just like anyone from the other faith.
“Their capability to deliver on the ideals of the party aside, they also have the capacity to win elections for the party. Suffice to add that no individual wins elections for any political party, it is the collective of all and we are sure the APC can achieve this.”