Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have expressed worry that the prospect of presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 has become a thorn in the flesh of the party, Vanguard has learned.
This is even as former Special Adviser to Kaduna State governor on Islamic Matters and Hajj, Sheikh Haliru Maraya, yesterday, noted that those promoting the idea of a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian presidential ticket do not wish the country well.
It came on a day the Tinubu Support Organization, TSO, consulted with critical stakeholders of the APC in the North-West and endorsed Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai of Kaduna State as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s running mate.
Thorny issue
A source privy to meetings on the choice of Tinubu’s running mate, said a Muslim-Muslim ticket remained a thorny issue in APC, disclosing that members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, PGF, are pushing hard for one of their own to emerge as running mate to Tinubu.
The source said: “As regards the governors insisting on Tinubu picking one of them, it is give and take, given the role of the Progressive Governors’ Forum. It is not impossible that one of the governors will get it.
“The choice of the running mate is not entirely the decision of the candidate. He will have his preferences and then, look at some of the factors. So, if the governors say they want it and he knows the role of the governors, he might have to listen to them. Wisdom dictates that so many tendencies have to be carried along.
“Don’t forget that the governors wanted one of them to be the presidential candidate but it was their influence that produced the candidate.”
On the controversy trailing the Muslim-Muslim ticket, the source said it remains a herculean task before the party.
“A Muslim-Muslim ticket is a major issue. The northerners will not allow a northern Christian to be the running mate because that will be like scheming them out of power.
“They will not give it to a northern Christian, they will insist on a northern Muslim. Once you pick a northern Christian, forget it, they are no longer with you and that is the way the northerners do their thing.
“If Tinubu chooses a Northern Christian, he will lose the support of the Northern Muslims and that will be a major setback. Whoever emerges is someone that is acceptable across board but it is apparent that it will be a Muslim-Muslim ticket and even at that, it has to be a strong person,” the source said. (Vanguard’)
