Council of Church Leaders and Ministers, CCLM, have on Monday in Ilorin asked Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate, All Progressives Congress, APC, and his party to to brace up for the consequences of annointing former governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, as his running mate.
The former governor’s tenure in Borno is dogged with controversy over his role in the escalation of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East state and the region.
Under his watch, the infamous Chibok incidence where over 200 young Christian girls were abducted by insurgents in Chibok, Borno after Shettima flouted federal directive to relocate the students to safer places in Maiduguri, the state capital.
“Any party that thinks or believes that the Christian population can be ignored without consequences will be doing so at its own her peril,” the group said.
The group made their mind known as part of events to commence the stated this in a press conference in its 26th edition of the annual fellowship conference.
The theme of the conference is, “The Church in the time like this”.
“The suggestion of a Muslim-Muslim ticket is all about impunity and a callous lack of consideration for others,” the group said.
Addressing the media on the state of the nation, the chairman of the council, Pastor Abel Aiyedogbon, said “our political leaders are not sensitive to the feelings of the citizens of the country because the behaviour of the political class most of the time evidently shows that personal ambition and interest are the overriding goal and not patriotism.
“How will anybody think about fielding candidates of the same religion for the first and the second place when the constitution of the country recognizes secularity.
“One will not be wrong to say that trampling on the religious rights of Nigerian is manifest in the idea of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which some people are now championing. It should be noted that people maligned and presented as inconsequential are not likely to forget.
“It is a form of religious intolerance to even contemplate either a Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket,” the group said.
The council also wondered what APC thinks of Christians in the North.
“Any party that thinks or believes that the Christian population can be ignored without consequences will be doing so at its own her peril,” the group said.
“Does it means that the Northern Christians have no electoral value,” the conference asked.
This is the most insensitive political decision ever taken by political class in recent times anywhere in the world and I pray Tinubu and his party get punished for it