Opposition against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, grew as the Forum of Northern Christians reiterated its position on the same-faith ticket, saying it would not back down.
The forum is headed by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
But a top APC leader tackled Dogara, describing him as a fifth columnist.
Bola Tinubu, a Muslim emerged as the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections, while former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, emerged as his running mate.
This came on a day Governor of Delta State and Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday, took a swipe at Bola Tinubu, over the controversy that has trailed the party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Our position on same-faith ticket stands Dogara, however, said it will meet with all the presidential candidates, across party lines and come up with its preferred choice.
Dogara met behind closed doors with Christian leaders from the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in Abuja in continuation of their consultationsahead of the 2023 general elections.
It was gathered that aside the former speaker, others in attendance include former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr Babachir Lawal; an APC Senator from Adamawa State, Elisha Abbo; former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba and all state chairmen of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, from the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Confirming the meeting in a tweet posted on his verified Twitter account, yesterday, Dogara wrote: “#NigeriaDecides2023: The fight for justice continues. Today (yesterday), we held a consultative meeting with Christian leaders from the 19 Northern States and the FCT on the pan-Nigerian platform to adopt in 2023.”
The forum had recently convened a summit of Northern Christian Leaders in Abuja where they rejected the adoption of a Muslim-Muslim Presidential and Vice Presidential ticket by the ruling APC.