As the race to pick Vice Presidential aspirants gets tougher, Catholic Bishops in the country have raised their voices against any purported plan by any political party to endorse a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the forth coming elections.
A statement issued by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) on Tuesday in Abuja, warned that such action would be the most insensitive- decision to take in a country whose unity and peaceful co-existence have been threatened by many non-state actors.
The statement which was signed by Secretary – General CSN, Very Rev. Fr. Zacharia Samjumi, and Director, Social Communications CSN, Very Rev. Fr. Michael Nsikak Umoh, noted that experience has shown the havoc such a ticket could wreck on the nation.
The statement partly reads: “With the present glaring crisis and division in the nation, a Muslim- Muslim ticket would be most insensitive and a tacit endorsement of the negative voices of many nonstate actors who have been threatening this nation’s unity and peaceful coexistence without an arrest.
“Going by the Kaduna experience, we can perceive the havoc the Muslim- Muslim ticket has brought upon the predominantly Christian people of Southern Kaduna.
“We therefore strongly advise those political parties toying with divisive agenda to have a rethink by presenting a more inclusive ticket, while calling on all people of goodwill to resist this budding injustice that may be hatched against a cross section of the people.”
The Bishops, who emphasised that Nigeria’s unity has over the years been maintained by a delicate balancing of the religious and the regional, said, “Significantly, it was only during the General Muhammadu Buhari era as military Head of State (December 31, 1983 – August 27, 1985) that we had a Muslim-Muslim military dictatorship.
“Similarly, only once did we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 1993 democratic elections, which featured Abiola-Kingibe ticket and turned out to be one of Nigeria’s freest and fairest elections. But that government never took off!
“Fast forward to 2022, 30 years later, some individuals have tried to suggest the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the Presidential election in a country like Nigeria that has unfortunately been badly polarised.
“Ordinarily, there would have been nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket in a democratic dispensation if there is mutual trust and respect for the human
and where the overriding desire for seeking political office is the fostering of the common good. But one cannot really say so of our country at the moment. “In pursuit of peace, it is imperative to remind everyone that all Nigerians, irrespective of creed or region, are equal; as such, there must be sensitivity in the spread of political positions without compromising competence.
“We call on all Nigerians, individually and collectively, to do everything in their power to seek and work for unity and justice, so that we may attain that peace we all desire. There is no alternative to peace!”
On the Owo massacre, the Bishops lamented it was not just an “attack on humanity, but also a terrible slap on the sovereignty of Nigeria and an indictment on the Federal Government.”
New Telegraph
