Nigeria: Still On The Same Faith Ticket

 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. 

*Tinubu and Shettima 

Self-servingly, some have mischaracterised the opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Recently, Festus Keyamo, the 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 100 million, 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? 

But he found a Northern APC Christian governor good enough to lead his campaign. And, alas, Lalong is ecstatic about defending the indefensible! 

Tinubu says that “the spirit of 1993 is upon us again in 2023”. He is a superstitious man. But he ignores the different circumstances then and now and forgets that “the spirit of 1993” was stillborn: a “Muslim-Muslim presidency” never happened. 

Nigeria has never had a same-faith presidency under a democracy. But if Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket wins next year, well, Nigeria would be plunged deep into uncharted waters. The Constitution mandates inclusive sovereignty to promote national unity and command national loyalty! Debasing Christianity and Christians won’t achieve that! 

*Fasan is a commentator on public issues