Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani Kayode, has said Christians worrying over APC’s same faith Presidential ticket, should have no one but vice president Yemi Osinbajo to blame.
Kayode said the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was emboldened to choose a Northern Muslim as running mate not because it was an easy decision, but because Osinbajo has shown that having a Christian as vice president, is not a guarantee that Christians will be safe if indeed, there's an agenda against Christians in the country.
"It is true that for many years the practice has been to balance the ticket and pair Christians and Muslims when it comes to leadership positions and governance in this country in order to make adherents of both faiths feel secure," he wrote in a Facebook post in an attempt to allay fears over a potential all Muslim presidency come 2023.
He however added that such arrangement which has been in use in the country for a long time, has failed to serve its intended purpose.
He continued, "Yet other than the comforting optics one wonders just how much security such an arrangement really afforded adherents of both faiths?
"Did it stop Boko Haram and ISWAP from killing both Christians and Muslims respectively?
"Did it stop Christian mobs and militias in the North killing Muslims over the years?
"Did it stop Muslim mobs and militias slaughtering Christians in the North?
"Did it stop Christian secessionist, in the guise of unknown gunmen, targetting and murdering both Christians and Muslims in the East?
"Did it save the life of the young lady Deborah in Sokoto when she was hacked to pieces and burnt alive or that of the young man Gideon Akaluka when he was beheaded in Kano?
"We have tried this balancing formula for many years and it really does not seem to have provided the intended results or worked too well."
"Consider the plight of Northern Christians over the last 22 years even though we have had two Christian Presidents over that period of time and a Christian Vice President who happens to be a Pastor over the last 7," he added.
Kayode's post was in response to former SGF, Dr. Babachir Lawal, who described the APC’s all Muslim ticket as a threat to Christians in the North.
“For us Christians in the North, the Muslim-Muslim ticket is existential. It is designed to oppress, kill and eliminate us from the political and economic system," Lawal had said.