CHRISTIAN Elders Forum (NOSCEF) says Nigerians must use the 2023 elections to make the idea of a same-faith ticket unattractive for politicians.
There has been concerns about the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), with key politicians of Northern extraction, like the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal, standing up against it.
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Also, Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, spoke against the same faith ticket, stressing it did not consider a multi-sectoral and multi-religious society like Nigeria.
Speaking during a congress in Kaduna on Saturday, Ejoga Inalegwu, chairman of NOSCEF, asked “lovers of united Nigeria” to reject politicians that are insensitive to faith inclusion in the country.
Inalegwu said Christians must use the 2023 polls to “kill” the idea of a single-faith ticket and make it irrelevant in future elections.
“Unpatriotic politicians will use any formula they can apply to win elections, whether it hurts or not and promise to placate, as APC is doing after all the pleas.
“They will discard any formula that makes them lose elections in the future. Make the single-faith ticket unattractive for the future, by killing it now, or render yourselves forever an irrelevant commodity in the election equation for the future.
“We enjoin all lovers of Nigeria across faith to reject the single faith ticket to frustrate politics of exclusion that is mindful of regional balance but insensitive to faith inclusion,” he said.
Also, Josiah Onaolapo, a professor, who was the guest speaker at the congress, said the 2023 election is a test of the political viability of northern Christians.
Onaolapo said, “We must mobilise our people to vote in 2023 as if our lives depend on it.
“If you allow the door to close against northern Christians, the door will be closed forever.
“There is no state in the north that does not have about 30 per cent of Christians, including Sokoto and Zamfara states.”
Ahead of the polls, the APC presented presidential and vice-presidential candidates who are of the same faith.
Bola Tinubu, the APC standard bearer, is a Muslim from the south-west, while his running mate, Kashim Shettima, is a Muslim from the north-east.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC has been condemned by groups such as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).