The immediate past president expressed worry that said same-faith ticket would cause a lapse in the representation of the country’s religious diversity.
The immediate past president of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has argued that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s same-faith ticket would eventually lead to a lapse in the representation of Nigeria’s religious diversity.
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Jonathan said this in an interview published in a book, ‘’My Time As Chaplain In Aso Rock,” presented to the public on Tuesday, December 6, The Punch reported
Jonathan recalls that the tradition when he was in power was that if the president was a Christian, the vice president would be a Muslim and vice versa.
He said:
“When I took over as the vice president, the tradition then was that if the President were a Christian, the Vice would be a Muslim and vice versa.
“We have religious festivals in Nigeria and, of course, National Day, where there will be Jummah prayers and Christian prayers. “Nigerians are religious people, this is why I get worried about the issues of Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket.
Yes, Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian can run the state. But I always ask, ‘who will represent this other bloc whenever we come to the national days that we celebrate?”
Since unveiling Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate, the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has been making frantic efforts to convince the Christian community that he didn’t make the choice out of religious consideration.