2023: Muslim/Muslim Ticket Can’t Guarantee APC Victory, Says Arewa Group
•Calls for inclusiveness in the choice of running mate.
The Northern Nigeria Front for Equity and Good Governance (NNFEGG) has expressed its reservation over the utterances of some politicians in the region that only a Muslim /Muslim ticket can guarantee the victory of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
Speaking at a news conference in Kaduna on Friday, the National President of the group, Zakariya Abdulaziz noted that, ‘we are very concerned and disturbed by the utterances of some few voices that attempted to push for their narratives using religion and ethnicity under the guise of speaking for the north.
According to him, “We find it very divisive, careless and callous for some persons to say that the choice of a Christian from the North will not guarantee North votes for certain political parties.
For instance, he continued,’ they have brazenly and openly said that only the choice of a Muslim from the North as running mate to a candidate for the ruling party can guarantee the votes of the North. In other words, they are saying that a Muslim-Muslim ticket is the only way to victory for the ruling party.
According to the Northern group, this is misleading and very unfortunate, saying, the position is not only incorrect but an attempt to mislead the good people of the region into thinking that religion or ethnicity is the major determining factor for the voting pattern in the north.
“Again, such very unfortunate voices seem to destroy the foundation of unity, oneness and equity which the founding fathers of the region toiled for,” he asserted.
“To demonstrate how untrue such positions of the religion are one can give an example of the current leadership of the Northern Governors Forum which is chaired by the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong who happens to be a Christian among his colleagues that are majority Muslims.
To this end, the Northern group argued further that the position being pushed by the promoters is unfair and capable of portraying the North as being politically insensitive in the current effort to make the country united.
Thus, Abdulaziz maintained that the stand of the group has always been that the North is known to be at the forefront of promoting inclusive politics in the country, stressing, despite some challenges, the North always emerged exceptional in expressing itself as a nationalistic region
