An Islamic preacher from northern Nigeria has warned against pairing the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu with a Christian from the northern region as his running mate ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The preacher and some others like him have threatened to mobilise Muslims to reject Tinubu and the APC during the forthcoming presidential election.
In a viral video, Sheikh Ibrahim Aliyu Kaduna accused northern governors of trading the destiny of northern Muslims for a sick candidate’s money.
He said, “Northern governors, especially Muslims amongst you are treacherous because you’ve sold our destiny; and God will punish you for that.
“You set aside a critical Islamic requirement because the first criterion for choosing a leader in Islam is that the person must be healthy and physically fit.”
“Now your second error will be to pair him (Tinubu) with a Christian from our region. This will be disastrous because we would mobilise the people to reject the ticket at the polling units,” he added.
Similarly, after congratulating Tinubu for emerging as the APC presidential candidate, a radical Muslim who identified himself as Aminu Jetaun, cautioned him against considering a northern Christian as his running mate.
He said, “You, Tinubu, make no mistake about this; do not pick a Christian as your running mate because we’ve yet to completely trust your own version of Islam.”
The issue has been a major subject of discourse since the election of Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate. It has dominated sermons in many mosques in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Our correspondent observed that some clerics have been urging their congregants and indeed Muslim faithful to reject the APC if Tinubu is paired with a Christian from the region.
This comes as Christian leaders in the region are mobilising against a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
SaharaReporters earlier reported on Tuesday that the ruling APC may force a Muslim-Muslim ticket on Nigerians as Tinubu’s camp narrows down to Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno, to be his running mate.
