The Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican communion), Rev. Henry Ndukuba, says the All Progressives Congress Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election is dangerous for Nigeria.
Ndukuba stated this in an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Abuja ahead of the 4th Standing Committee Meeting of the Church following its 2020 General Synod.
He opined that the decision by APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to pick Kashim Shettima as his running mate meant that the party was insensitive to the feelings of the people.
The Primate said as harmless as the idea of the same-faith ticket might sound, the country was not ripe for it.
He said, “We are totally opposed to it. When you appoint or choose people of the same faith, either Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim ticket, you are being very insensitive to the feelings of the people. For us, it portends danger.
“Until we are able to deal with the issues that are causing disharmony and distrust in our nation and be able to provide credible leadership, we cannot pretend that we must be able to live above these (sentiments).
“It is one step at a time. Do the needful. Give credible leadership that will win the confidence of the people, and then; when you tell us anybody can rule, we will agree.
It is unwise to continue to promote those things that further divide the country.
“There is a need for politicians to be sensitive to the feeling and aspirations of the people. Nigeria is a secular state and great efforts were made in the past to ensure that it remained so.”
Ndukuba also decried the breach of power rotation agreement by some political leaders, warning that religion and tribal issues were still volatile areas of the national life of the people.
“In addition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket, the inability of the political parties to abide by previously agreed Code of Conduct has constituted one of the contending issues in the currently raging debate on exclusion in governance.”