A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Farouk Aliyu, says Christians have become more accepting of the party’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket following the performance of the Bola Tinubu administration.
Aliyu made the remark on Thursday during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise Television while defending President Tinubu’s decision to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
He said the concerns raised ahead of the 2023 election that Christians would be marginalised under a Muslim-Muslim presidency had not materialised.
According to him, the Tinubu administration has demonstrated that governance under the current administration is not driven by religion.
“There was a lot of outcry that Christians were going to be marginalised. Today, it is clear that nobody is being marginalised along religious lines,” Aliyu said.
He added that President Tinubu has led the country as a national leader rather than along religious lines, arguing that this has helped reassure many Nigerians.
Aliyu also defended the APC’s decision to retain the Tinubu-Shettima ticket for the 2027 election, describing it as a strategic move that preserves stability within the party.
He said changing the ticket after its victory in 2023 would have been unnecessary and expressed confidence that Nigerians would once again support the APC in the next presidential election.
The APC’s decision to field Tinubu, a Muslim from the South-West, and Shettima, a Muslim from the North-East, in the 2023 election sparked widespread debate, with several Christian organisations expressing concerns over religious balance.
Despite the criticism, the APC maintained that its choice was based on competence and electoral strategy. Tinubu and Shettima went on to win the presidential election and assumed office on May 29, 2023.
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