IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has condemned the All Progressives Congress Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Speaking with Channels Television on Thursday, the Catholic Bishop insisted that the ticket was a setback to the country’s national integration.
Recall that Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), had unveiled Kashim Shettima as the running mate to Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election.
Mr Shettima, a former governor of Borno State and serving senator, was unveiled at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on 10 July.
The unveiling comes despite fierce criticisms trailing his choice as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling party in Daura in Katsina State.
Both Tinubu and Shettima are Muslims.
Some members of the party criticised the choice, tagging it as “Muslim/Muslim.”
Among those who fiercely opposed it were a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Mr Tinubu’s ally, Babachir Lawal, and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
However, Kukah wondered if Muslims would accept a Christian-Christian presidential ticket, describing it as reprehensible and unacceptable.
He said Nigerians would wait to hear what they have to say when the campaign starts.
Kukah said: “But moving forward, the question I have asked my friends who are Muslims, especially those who are from northern Nigeria, is a simple question: ‘Would Muslims in Nigeria or northern Nigeria be ready to make the same concession that Christians made in 1984 and 1993?
“I think that as a Christian, this is totally reprehensible. It is not acceptable to me, but that is the decision of the APC as a party.
Perhaps, when the campaign starts, we will hear what people have to say.”