APC Northern Christians, Muslims agree on consensus candidate

The All Progressives Congress has been rocked by the decision by a group of Northern Christians and Muslims opposed to the Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kassim Shettima presidential ticket to adopted a consensus candidate.
Despite concerns raised by the concerned APC Northern Christians and Muslim on the Tinubu’Shettima Muslim-Muslim ticket, the APC leadership refused to shift ground. The Christian group led by Yakubu Dogara and Babachir Lawal met with their Muslim counterparts including Mukhari Shagari, Adudulfattah Ahmed, Damishi Sango, Senator Idris Ahmed Umar over the weekend and came up with a resolution to back another candidate instead of the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The communique signed by former National House of Assembly speaker Dogara and former Minister of Agriculture Shagari stated: “The APC Northern Christian leaders have, in line with their communiqué issued on July 29, 2022, met with some Muslim brothers and sisters across the 19 northern states and the FCT and resolved as follows:
“That we have agreed to work together to foster unity, peace, and national cohesion.
“To work together and jointly adopt a pan-Nigerian political platform that will engender unity, inclusiveness, and a sense of belonging among the Nigerian citizenry.
“Conscious of the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural configuration of Nigeria, we believe that a same-faith ticket and voting along religious lines may trigger dangerous dimensions of negative consequences among our disparate peoples in ways that will hamper nation-building.
“Consequently, we have agreed to channel our energies on matters that unite us more as a people instead of encouraging attacks on sensitive issues bothering religion in the name of politics.
“Given the above, we have agreed to set up a committee with the mandate to fashion out strategies for advancing the objectives outlined in this resolution.”
Meanwhile the APC presidential campaign council labeled Dogara a traitor and impostor. A statement signed by Bayo Onanuga said: “Yakubu Dogara, the peripatetic and politically unstable politician who organised the meeting left our party officially and unceremoniously weeks ago. And those who attended the meeting were representing themselves, their selfish agenda, not Northern Christians.
“A careful reading of the people who attended the unholy meeting he called also showed that they were all PDP members, masquerading as APC members.
“Among the politicians at the unholy consultative meeting were Mukhar Shagari, Boni Haruna, Abdulfattah Ahmed; Damishi Sango; Senator Idris Ahmed Umar; and two former deputy governors of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi and Simon Achuba. They are all PDP members working for the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar.”