Director of Media and Communications, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, has claimed that those in the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposed to the Muslim-Muslim ticket are angry because they lost out in the plot to emerge as vice-presidential candidate.
Recall that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, had vowed to mobilise northern Christian electorates to vote against the candidate of the ruling party in the 2023 election over his decision to field a Muslim as his running mate.
Northern Christian leaders met last Friday to reject the APC presidential ticket for not representing Christians and Muslims.
Among the leaders, who spoke during the event, were Lawal, Dogara, a former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, and Senator Ishaku Abbo (Adamawa North).
Onanuga said he won’t join issues with Babachir Lawal and Dogara, accusing the duo of spewing hate over the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
He told The PUNCH, “We know where these people are coming from. I won’t like to join issues with anybody. Dogara is a Christian. If you follow him, you will find contradictions in what he said. Who made Dogara the Speaker of the National Assembly? Jubril, a Muslim, did. He was his campaign manager. Was it not a Muslim that also made Babachir Lawal the SGF?
“So when you see responsible leaders spew hatred around, you will know that it is not worth joining issues with them. Nigerians have seen through people like this. They are only inciting themselves because they lost out, not the masses. For now, we are looking forward to September when election campaign will kick off.”
Speaking further, the campaign spokesman said Bola Tinubu is already reaching out to religious bodies and leaders to assure them that he has no ulterior motive.
“The candidate is talking to the Christian leaders that our ticket is not by religion at all. We believe many of them will see reason and support our ticket. We don’t want to be seen debating Christianity or Islam, that belongs elsewhere. The Tinubu-Shettima ticket is a political one, not what Babachir and Dogara are portraying. We also know it is only a matter of time before they decamp,” he said.
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