By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
FORMER President of Nigerian, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has shot down and described the Muslim Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as worrisome and abnormal.
This is coming ahead of the build up to the 2023 general elections in which the ruling APC is featuring Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Kashim Shettima as presidential and vice versa candidates.
Jonathan said that it has always been a tradition to have Musilm-Christian or Christian-Musilm in the selection process of President and Vice President candidates of parties in Nigeria for equal representation between the two major religious groups.
“When I took over as the vice president, the tradition then was that if the President was 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,” he averred.
He said Nigerians, being a religious people, it would be difficult to have same faith ticket at the presidency in a country still struggling for unity, peace and inclusiveness.
“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 block whenever we come to the national days that we celebrate?,” he asked rhetorically.
He further empathized that competence, integrity and capacity to deliver should ordinarily be the basic requirements for who becomes president or Vice president, but also noted that these qualities could be gotten from all the religious groups in Nigeria.
“All my life, my decision regarding the team around me and those I work with are guided by principles of competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness and adherence to excellence.
“In politics, those principles are sacrosanct. They are not negotiable. Without them, there can be no victory or joy,” he maintained.
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