The selection of a vice presidential candidate of a political party is entirely the business of a political party and the presidential candidate of the party. Some stakeholders and interest groups in the party may be factored in the choice of a vice presidential candidate. But in a heterogeneous country like Nigeria, the choice of a VP prior to a general election should not be an entirely party affair because any choice they make is going to affect Nigerians if the party happens to win the election. That is why the pick of a VP is as important as the choice of the presidential candidate.
All the major political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP) have chosen their vice presidential candidates. While the PDP VP pick generated some murmurs in the party over leaving out Rivers State governor who came second in the PDP presidential primary and picking Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, the LP pick of Dr. Yusuf Datti Ahmed went without any protest but the APC pick of former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima has generated enough heat to further exacerbate global warming, despite world leaders’ recent commitment to reduce it. While the APC chairman, Adamu describes his party’s VP pick as an act of God, former Secretary to Federal government, Babachir Lawal described it as a disastrous error and an issue that is dead on arrival. It is vital to tell Adamu to remove God from the APC VP pick. God has no role in that private matter of a political party in Nigeria, a party that has so much misgoverned Nigeria in the past seven years.
Even before the parties choose their VP candidates, notable Nigerians, groups and many stakeholders had warned against choosing the same faith candidates. The concerned Nigerians had warned that a Muslim/Muslim or Christian/Christian ticket will tear the country apart because of its insensitivity and political exclusion of some people on account of their religious identity. The present Nigerian leadership under APC has polarized Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines that the same faith ticket on which the late MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe almost coasted home to victory in 1993 presidential poll before it was annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida is no longer feasible today.
Despite the cancellation of that election said to be the freest and fairest in the history of the country, the then military authorities had their own reasons for annulling the poll. May be with time, some of those reasons might be unearthed. Regardless of why the military cancelled that poll, the choice of same faith ticket at a time churches are attacked and the priests, especially of the Catholic faith, are being kidnapped and even killed in some parts of the country cannot be justified by any manner of logic or rhetoric. No amount of propaganda will do the job. APC has made its choice, it must live with its consequences. Any political action taken must have consequences and APC and even any other party will not escape the consequences of their actions or their choices.
The criticisms and opposition against the Muslim/Muslim ticket are enough signals to those who made that choice to realize that their choice does not respect nor reckon with the multi-cultural and multi-religious nature of Nigeria. The choice of a Muslim/Muslim ticket will futher accentuate our fault lines. It is not the best way to manage of our diversity. The same faith ticket in Nasir El-Rufai Kaduna State has not worked, is not working and cannot work. So why extending it to the national stage. While critics contend that Jagaban’s choice is a great misstep, his supporters say it is the best and perhaps the wisest choice that would enable them win the poll. Although the Jagaban had justified his choice on competence, that line of argument is not tenable. While the Jagaban has every right to pick his VP, but using competence as the reason for his choice cannot fly.
Many Christians in the North are also competent to even rule the country. He cannot say that the Christians in the North are incompetent. Disregarding the Northern Christians by the APC, which should naturally chose a Christian VP is a great error. It is a great omission. Tinubu has laboured enormously to justify why he chose Shettima but many Nigerians across the country could not be convinced. Those who are tirelessly justifying the Muslim/Muslim ticket will not tolerate a Christian/Christian ticket. People are not criticizing the APC VP pick because of jealousy or crying more than the bereaved, they are only expressing their concerns that this choice is divisive and will further cause tension in the country that is already tensed up by insecurity. Some APC sympathizers who justify Tinubu’s VP pick see it as a winning formula. They even accuse the PDP of desperation for power for jettisoning its zoning formula in preference for a Northern Muslim candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, instead of a Southerner. Some of them even point out that parties are set up to win elections.
Apart from winning elections, parties are established to further nurture democracy through political education, volunteerism, social work, political debates and nurturing of future leaders. The desperation of APC and PDP to capture power is not altruistic, it is selfish. The claim by Jagaban that the spirit of 1993 is upon them in their VP choice is a matter of faith. The fact is that the spirit of 1993 has since left Nigeria. It is no longer upon us. Hope 1993 has gone with MKO Abiola. It cannot be reenacted in this geographical entity. After all, that historic election was annulled. Why travel the old neglected road again? If the same faith combination was so attractive, why did Buhari resist it in 2015? But Nigerians are telling him that Nigeria of 1993 is not the same as the Nigeria of today where people are daily killed because of their Christian faith. They contend that Jagaban is not another MKO Abiola and whether anyone likes it or not, another MKO Abiola is a remote possibility in modern Nigerian politics. Abiola had a pan-Nigerian mandate and was very popular with people across the country. Recall the recent killing of over 40 worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State and the killing of some Catholic priests in Edo and Kaduna states.
It is good that the opposition to the same faith ticket is coming from Nigerians across the religious divides. This shows that their concerns are genuine and altruistic. I don’t know if the APC still has another window of opportunity to substitute their VP pick in view of the swirling opposition against same faith choice. If not, Nigerians should leave them with their choice. After all, the electorate have choices, they should vote according to their conscience and preferences. The only warning is that the 2023 election must not be rigged. INEC must resist the incumbency factor and deliver a world-class poll next year. Nigerians and the global community are watching how INEC will conduct the election. I encourage all Nigerians, especially those eligible to vote, to register and get their permanent voters’ cards, their only weapon to vote out bad and incompetent leaders, parading as saviours. Let INEC quicken the distribution and collection of PVCs so that registered voters and those who transferred to new polling units can get their PVCs.