Political parties in Nigeria have been warned against Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim presidential tickets in 2023.
The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria made this known on Tuesday in a statement by its Secretary-General, Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi.
The two major political parties (the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)) have produced Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar respectively as their presidential candidates. Both of them are Muslims.
With Atiku searching for a souther Christian to balance his ticket, reports emerged on Friday that the APC is looking to pair Tinubu with a strong Muslim northerner ahead of the 2023 election.
The Catholic Secretariat said that the imposition of a Muslim-Muslim ticket will be insensitive, considering the present glaring religious tension and division in the nation.
It stated that there would have been nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket if there is mutual trust, respect for human lives and the desire to the foster common good.
The statement reads: “Ordinarily, there would have been nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket in a democratic dispensation if there is mutual trust and respect for the human person and where the overriding desire for seeking political office is the fostering of the common good. But one cannot really say so of our country at the moment.
“The present glaring crisis and division in the nation, a Muslim-Muslim ticket would be most insensitive and a tacit endorsement of the negative voices of many non-state actors who have been threatening this nation’s unity and peaceful coexistence without an arrest.”