Ganduje, others battle Babachir over APC’s same-faith ticket

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and some All Progressives Congress, APC, stakeholders have faulted former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Engr. Babachir Lawal, over his opposition to the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the party.

The party’s presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim, last Sunday chose a fellow Muslim, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.

Reacting to the development on Tuesday, Babachir Lawal, among others, described the Muslim-Muslim ticket as a disastrous error and satanic, adding that Shettima is Northern governors’ Greek gift’ to Tinubu.

Insisting that the ticket was dead on arrival, Babachir added that if Tinubu won, he would be a sectional leader on account of the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Faulting Babachir Lawal yesterday, the Kano State governor also described as unjustifiable his claims that the Ganduje Foundation, a philanthropic body, was being used to allegedly force some Christian faithful to become Muslims.

Ganduje spoke as some Islamic clerics opposed the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket, which they described as unfair, unjust and insensitive.

Specifically, Sheikh Haliru Maraya, a renowned Muslim scholar in Kaduna State and former Adviser on Islamic and Hajj Affairs to late Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, said it is unfair to other religions for Muslims in APC to produce national chairman, deputy national chairman, presidential candidate, vice-presidential candidate, Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, among others.

But the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, kept mum on the issue, yesterday as Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; and Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, among others, urged Nigerians to cast their ballots based on competence and not religion in 2023.

Watch your utterances, Ganduje, APC stakeholders warn Babachir

Ganduje, in a statement by Kano State Commissioner for Information, Mallam Muhammad Garba, described Babachir Lawal’s comment on forcing Christians to become Muslims as “totally false, considering that, while there is no compulsion in religion, Islam gave individuals the freedom to choose their own religion, and also provided non-Muslims with considerable economic, cultural and administrative rights.”

The governor, according to the statement, assured that the Muslim-Muslim ticket will not in any way result in the neglect of Christians in the country.

He appealed to the former SGF, Christian APC members and other Nigerians “to be mindful of their utterances, especially on religious matters and support the party for quality leadership that will deliver the country from her challenges.”

According to him, there was never a time any Christian or non-believer was forced to embrace Islam by his foundation because it negated the teachings of Islam, but are called to Islam at their wish, just as the missionaries go to villages in Kano to invite non-believers to embrace Christianity.

Ganduje said it was “unfortunate that at a time the country needs to be united for national development and religious tolerance, a man of Babachir’s calibre, who is highly respected, would spread falsehood without much consideration to his position in the All Progressives Congress and close relationship with the party’s flag-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

He said going by its activities, the foundation was not faith-based “but purely philanthropic in which case, non-Muslims also stand to benefit from the services it renders.”

You’re on your own, APC stakeholders tell ex-SGF Lawal

Also, a group of young party chieftains, under the aegis of All Progressives Congress, APC, National Stakeholders, has expressed support for the party’s standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over his choice of a fellow Muslim, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.

At a briefing in Abuja, yesterday, the stakeholders also reacted to Engr. Babachir Lawal who, on Tuesday, described the Muslim-Muslim ticket as satanic and a disastrous error.

“The former SGF, Engr. Babachir Lawal has only expressed his own opinion just as we had sometime in the past made comments seeking that certain sentiments be considered. But in a democracy, we should be willing to listen to others and not wish that only our opinions be considered. What Lawal said was his personal opinion,” the group stated.

Convener of the group, Engr. Aliyu Audu, conceded that his team had advocated the selection of a running mate with a faith different from that of the presidential candidate so as to give a sense of inclusion to followers of both major religions.

He said: “We are aware that in order to build an effectively working society, we must prioritize capacity, competence, character over religion and ethnicity, especially as prioritising such sentiments in the past has not provided the desired goal of sense of inclusion which can only truly be achieved when all Nigerians experience good governance at all levels, regardless of their faith, ethnicity or social class.

“We understand that reaching this all important choice must have been a hard nut to crack, even for an exceptional leader like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”