Reactions and counterreactions have trailed the choice of former Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as running mate to the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, for Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
Tinubu announced Shettima as his running mate hours after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Katsina State.
However, some Nigerians have raised concerns over the ruling party’s presidential ticket for next year’s general election, citing religious imbalance in a multi-religious country.
Tinubu is a Muslim from the country’s southwest, while his running mate, Shettima, is also a Muslim from the northeast.
In a statement announcing Shettima as his running mate, Tinubu noted that he was fully aware of the arguments against his choice but that religion, ethnicity and region cannot always determine Nigeria’s path toward development and prosperity.
‘I announce my selection with pride because I have made it not based on religion or to please one community or the other. I made this choice because I believe this is the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period, regardless of their religious affiliation or considerations of ethnicity or region’, Tinubu said in statement.
‘Shettima’s career in politics and beyond shows that he is eminently qualified not only to deliver that all-important electoral victory but, also, to step into the shoes of the vice-president.
‘As a man with the talent, maturity, strength of character, and patriotism, he has my implicit confidence and faith’.
He added: ‘If we truly understood the challenges upon us as a country, we must also see the imperative of placing competence in governance above religious sentiments’.
Reacting to the issue, the Executive Director of the Good Governance Team (GGT), Tunde Salman, told Development Diaries that because of the plurality and complexities in the Nigerian state, certain variables, including religion and ethnicity, are to be considered in party politics.
‘There is no way we can take ethnicity and religion out of Nigerian politics because even the basic definition of politics is about identity politics – who get what, when and how or authoritative allocation of value. That is the basic definition of politics’, Salman said.
‘For most analysts and observers, the perfect decision would have been clear sensitivity to the religious divide but for the candidate in particular, he looked at it from the number of votes a Christian vice would likely deliver to him in the north.
‘As a civil society person who is always promoting plurality and respect for ethnic diversity, I will have liked a situation where these sensitivities are considered’.
Salman also advocated that these current issues should be factored in to frame the country’s policies and law. According to the GGT boss, ‘why can’t we put it in a law clearly that when you have a Christian then a Muslim must be vice, and vice versa, so that everyone is carried along’.
He added, ‘What I will advise since he has picked his choice is that voters should make their votes count and defend their votes but we should look beyond the immediate and make sure Nigeria works for all and no one feels ostracised’.
The Convener of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, also noted that ‘inclusion is key’ in a multi-ethnic and plural state like Nigeria.
He tweeted, ‘If religion and region doesn’t [sic] matter, why didn’t Tinubu pick a Muslim from the southeast or Christian from the north? A Christian-Christian ticket won’t be accepted for the presidency of Nigeria in a multi-religious nation just like a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Inclusion is key’.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has also faulted Tinubu’s choice as amounting to discrimination in a pluralistic society such as Nigeria.
‘[This] constitutes an infraction against Section 42(1) of the Constitution and violation of broad-based composition of government as spelt out in section 14(3) of the Constitution on Federal Character Principles in appointments in Nigeria’, HURIWA said.
However, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has applauded the Muslim-Muslim ticket presented by APC, calling it an ‘excellent ticket’.
‘The good news is that both are moderate Muslims, not ultra Muslims’, Okechukwu said.
The choice of leaders should logically and primarily be based on competence and integrity in order to ensure the dividends of development and good governance are enjoyed by all citizens, regardless of their religions.
However, religion and ethnicity play a sacrosanct part in the politics of Nigeria, where ethnic groups are over 250 and Islam and Christianity the major religions.
With all the major political parties having picked their standard-bearers for the 2023 elections, the ball now lies in the court of Nigerian voters.
Photo source: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
