By Umar Audu
A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David-Lawal has warned the All Progressives Congress, APC, against fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 Presidential elections.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that since the emergence of a former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, a Muslim, as the APC’s presidential candidate, there have been rumours of a possible Muslim running mate for the party’s candidate.
But speaking during his appearance on Channels Television’s current affairs programme ‘Politics Today’ on Thursday, the former SGF who is Mr Tinubu’s staunch supporter, said any attempt to consider such a ticket would be “dead on arrival”.
According to him, with the current political atmosphere in the country which is divided along regional and religious lines, it will be impossible for such a ticket to fly.
He said: “You can have the best ticket but if you don’t win the election, it’s a waste of time.
“So, we must bear in mind that the vice [presidential candidate] is going to contribute to winning the election.
“Extending that consideration to the Muslim-Muslim ticket, I live among the Christians, and I know that among the Christians, the question of Muslim-Muslim ticket is a no-go area; it is dead on arrival.
“Buhari, himself, even at that time had to drop this present presidential candidate because of that tension of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, and we have not seen anything in the country that has changed significantly to allow that to happen. On the contrary, it has worsened,” he added.
