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, 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
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