The recommendation was made in the committee’s “Report on the Actualization of the Presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Coming 2023 General Election,” which was presided over by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal.
The committee, which highlighted the factors the party should consider in settling for a running mate and the possible choices the party could choose from, asked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); the party’s presidential candidate, Tinubu; leaders of the National Assembly and other party leaders to intervene. It warned that the defection of the members might affect the party.
The report of the committee, a copy of which was seen on Saturday, has 23 members, 22 of whom signed the document with the exception of Nuhu Ribadu, a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Other members of the committee included a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; serving senators Opeyemi Bamidele, Ishaku Abbo, Grace Bent, and Basiru Ajibola; member of the House of Reps, Musa Sarkin-Adar, Komsol Longgap, and Olawale Raji; former senators Adesoji Akanbi, Abu Ibrahim and Magnus Abe.
Others were the Director-General, Tinubu Support Group, Umar Mohammed; Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Silas Agara; former deputy governor of Lagos State (under Tinubu), Femi Pedro; Safaa Adam; Amina Indala; Kashim Imam; Akin Awodeyi-Akinseyiwa; Saadatu Garba; Abubakar Sanusi and M.T Usman.
The report of the committee, which was said to have been handed over to Tinubu for consideration and implementation, partly read, “Defecting to other parties is quite common during electioneering but it is more worrisome for this election as a lot of influential members feel aggrieved with the processes of the elections.
“There is a need to reach out to the principal officers of the National Assembly and the party leadership at the national, state, zonal, and local government levels to mitigate and assuage the aggrieved persons.
“It is worrisome that 22 serving senators and 170 National Assembly members are set to defect from the APC. There is no doubt that this can weaken our strength and there is an urgent need for intervention from the President, our presidential candidate, governors, leaders of the National Assembly, the APC national, state, zonal, and local working committees as well as influential party stakeholders.”
The report said the committee met several times in June and deliberated on the issues of running mate, bearing religion in mind; branding and packaging of the candidate; defections among party members and gender equality. It added that the members did a random sampling of opinions from religious and political stakeholders and the general public and that it used the religious demographic ratio from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.
On the issue of the running mate, the committee noted that Muslim-Muslim and Muslim-Christian tickets have respective merits and demerits, but warned that the zone and religion of the running mate were sensitive issues that require careful consideration.
The committee said a Muslim-Christian ticket would sustain the established religious balance in presidential tickets since 1999 and that it could bring about victory for the party as it would satisfy the aspirations of Christians in the North-Central and North-East. It however warned that Muslims in the North-West and North-East might vote for northern candidates in the NNPP and PDP, which could result in a substantial loss for the party.
On the Muslim-Muslim option, the committee said it would help to neutralize the voting strength of the PDP and NNPP and satisfy the Muslim community which has the numerical voting strength that could guarantee victory. But on the demerit of such a combination, the committee said the uncertainty of the possible outcome must not be ignored as it would sharply divide voters along religious lines.
The report added, “It will trigger a large-scale revolt from the Christian communities across Nigeria against our party, thereby resulting in substantial loss of votes that may affect the overall victory of the election. In our current nascent democracy, it has never been tried but when tried, the winner was not sworn in, even though it was adjudged as the freest and fair election.”
‘Never downplay Christians’
The former SGF, who publicly objected to Tinubu’s selection of a fellow Muslim as his running mate, has characterized the APC’s and Tinubu’s insistence on a Muslim-Muslim ticket as the latter’s declaration in public that he only needs Muslim votes to win the presidency. He stated that the Christian community, particularly in the North, would reject being downgraded to second-class status since the APC had submitted Kashim Shettima’s name to INEC.
Expressing his disappointment with Tinubu’s insistence in a post sent to one of our correspondents on WhatsApp on Friday night, Lawal said, “I did say it: those the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. Tinubu has thrown down the gauntlet. He has submitted Alhaji Kashim Shetima as his nominee. He has stood by his affirmation that he only requires Muslim votes to be president and for all he cares, Christians can all go to hell with their votes. This is his position and he has a right to it. I concede to him.
“We have picked up the gauntlet. The God of justice and equity through the Nigerian voter will decide the victor between the Nigerian Christians, Alhaji Tinubu and his party, the APC. This is our country and we will not let Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu relegate us, our children and our religion to second-class status in our own country.
“This is an existential crisis. Our right to justice and peaceful co-existence with all practitioners of other religions is under threat. A northern Nigerian Christian child deserves to be bequeathed a future in which he can aspire to be president or vice president of Nigeria.”
He said the Bible and the Nigerian constitution support and guarantee their position. “Come on Alhaji Tinubu! Come on APC!!” he concluded.
