Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that both Christian and Muslim leaders are against the same-faith combination of the All Progressives Congress’ presidential candidacy.
Both Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, are Muslims.
Dogara, a Christian, said the combination was bound to fail.
He said this while delivering keynote address at a summit tagged, ‘Meet The Church’ organised by the Nigeria National Christian Coalition (NNCC) with the theme: ‘The Role of the Church in Nation-Building’.
He said, “I am so elated that today’s church in Nigeria has shaken off the beast of complacency of the past into fire by speaking up and resisting measures adopted by some political platforms that will hamper nation building.
“In a manner that negated the fundamentals of nation building, such as shared identity, values and visions, the APC adopted a same faith ticket in a country that has never attained nationhood.
“These warnings were not only ignored, but dismissed in one fell swoop by the APC presidential candidate who strangely believes that he can build a strong, secure and viable nation-state without first forging a shared identity, vision and values for our people thereby enabling us transit from citizens of a country into a nation of people with strong shared identity and values.
“To demonstrate that the church is right, it is not alone in condemning the same faith ticket. Other prominent Islamic clerics and Muslim leaders have also spoken in the same light.
“It is a good omen that both Christian and Muslim elites are not complacent over this matter. To this end it will be easy to generate the needed elite consensus that is key to nation building. All nations are built by elite consensus while all countries that failed in nation-building were destroyed by elite complacency.”
The former speaker also called on Christians to resist the temptation to waste their votes in the 2023 general elections.
“Every Christian knows that our God does not tolerate waste. It is unchristian for the church to waste anything given to us from above as we own nothing except what is given to us from above.
“I have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the church must not waste its votes or sow same on unproductive grounds.
“Every Christian must see his vote as talents given to him by God to trade with and as seeds that must not be wasted.
“The only way we can build a nation out of Nigeria is by doing the right things. A united, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria is possible if we go to work. We can start building that Nigeria of our dreams if we don’t waste our votes in the next election circle.”
