Members of the Northern APC Christians Forum have demanded that Kashim Shettima be replaced as Bola Tinubu’s running mate immediately ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Northern Christians in the ruling party called the inauguration of the APC’s presidential campaign council for 2023 a charade. According to the Christians, the APC must accept the fact that they are significant stakeholders within the party.
Following the establishment of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, some Christians within the party have called for a total boycott of the ruling party in the 2023 presidential election.
During a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, October 23, Christians reiterated their opposition to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket. Christians under the aegis of the Concerned Northern APC Christians Forum, led by their general secretary, Lukas Bako, insisted that the ruling party abandon its current combination of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima in order to gain Christian support.
Bako called the party’s recent inauguration of its 2023 presidential campaign council a charade and said the APC’s chances of winning the presidency are a failed mission.
He noted that under the current arrangement, Christians in Nigeria would face untold persecution under an APC government. Bako went on to say that the Northern Christians support the Christian Association of Nigeria’s position.
He said: “Christians in the APC Presidential Campaign Council are betrayers who have sold their conscience in return for a plate of porridge.”
As a result, the group urged the APC leadership to do the right thing and replace the APC vice presidential candidate with a Christian before the campaigns began. They did, however, advise Christians on the APC council to resign honorably in protest until the necessary steps were taken.
His words: “APC must come to terms with the reality that Northern Christians were indeed notable stakeholders in the APC, and their contributions to the growth and development of the party over the years cannot be overemphasized.”
He also stated that the Northern APC Christians Forum is concerned that the APC leadership’s lack of respect for Northern Nigerian Christians has reached an alarming climax, which could pass for a deliberate attempt to divide the Christian population in Northern Nigeria.
“Our concern also stems from the fact that the action of the APC can breed distrust amongst the religious groupings in the country.
“It must be stated that with the Muslim-Muslim Ticket, the Northern Christians have been marginalized and without recourse to the implication of such actions in the overall psyche of the people.”
The forum recommended that Shettima be replaced as APC’s vice-presidential candidate and running mate to former Lagos state governor Bola Tinubu as soon as possible.
Bako noted:
“The Concerned Northern APC Christians Forum is demanding unequivocally that the Presidential Candidate and the APC leadership should do the needful by replacing the APC vice Presidential Candidate with a Christian before the commencement of the campaigns.
“The APC leadership must desist from treating Northern Christians as inconsequential in the country’s scheme of affairs, hence the choice of the Muslim-Muslim Ticket. “The danger of such misgiving could ignite a religious crisis in the country, hence the need for caution from the leadership of the APC.”