By Olu Fasan
Every well-meaning Nigerian must remain outraged by the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC. Every patriotic Nigerian should be appalled by the utter insensitivity and perniciousness of the calculated decision that belittles Christianity and puts religious harmony and internal cohesion at greater risk in Nigeria. Of course, the issue won’t go away; we will discuss it until next year’s elections. My focus here is the symbolism of the choice.
Self-servingly, some have mischaracterised the opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Recently, Festus Keyamo, a minister of state for labour and employment and spokesman of the Tinubu presidential campaign, said it was about “balance of power”.According to him, Christians feared losing power at the centre if Tinubu became president with Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his vice-president. He said this was misguided because the vice-president “is powerless”.
But Keyamo is wrong. This is not about balance of power. Everyone knows that the Nigerian presidency is not a duopoly; that the president is all-powerful. Yet, you can’t have a president without a vice-president. So, this is about inclusion and representation, it’s about whether in a country where Christians and Muslims equally account for nearly 50 per cent of the population, it is right to have a same-faith presidential ticket.Still on the “powerlessness” of the vice-president, some have
also argued that a Christian vice-president can’t stop the persecution of
Christians. They reminded us that despite Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo being a
pastor, Christians have suffered relentless persecution over the past seven
years. So, of what value is a Christian vice-president?
Well, they too are wrong. Yes, a Christian vice-president won’t
stop the persecution of Christians, but imagine such persecution taking place
under a Muslim-Muslim presidency. Does anyone know how many private
interventions Vice-President Osinbajo made to Christian leaders to douse
tension? Can anyone estimate how much his presence at the centre helped to calm
nerves within the Christian community? It’s really hard to imagine Nigeria
escaping deeper conflagration over the past seven years under a Muslim-Muslim
presidency. A good analysis involves thinking about counterfactuals!
But those are asides. My main focus is the symbolism of the
Muslim-Muslim ticket. For context, let’s refer to the 1999 Constitution.
Section 14(2)(a) says that “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from
whom government derives all its powers and authority.” Section 14(3) then says:
“The composition of the Government of the Federation … shall be carried out in
such a manner as to reflect … the need to promote national unity and also to
command national loyalty.”
By the letter and spirit of those provisions, the Constitution
clearly requires the Federal Government, the embodiment and seat of the
Nigerian sovereignty, to be inclusive and representative in order to “promote
national unity” and “command national loyalty”. So, here’s the point. Given
that Christians account for nearly 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population, thus
over 100m, how would their non-representation in either of the two offices,
president and vice-president, which jointly symbolise Nigeria’s sovereignty,
promote national unity and command national loyalty?
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