Muslim-Muslim ticket strategy to win presidency, Fayemi tells church leaders
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday allayed fears among Christians in the country over the controversial All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying it was a calculated political strategy of the party to win the presidential election.
Fayemi told Ado-Ekiti this weekend during a courtesy visit by the new leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ekiti State Chapter, headed by their president, Emmanuel Aribasoye.
He said the choice of a Muslim running mate for APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu was not because there were no competent Christian politicians from the North, as being wrongly peddled in some quarters.
Ekiti Governor has urged Christian leaders to avoid 'disengagement theology' and embrace politics by turning the current challenge into an opportunity to present a charter of demands to all political candidates, based on conditions irreducible minimums acceptable to Christianity.
He said, "Many Christians see politics as a dirty game and, for this reason, are disengaging from the political process. It is time for us to realize that there are compelling reasons for Christians to participate in politics. In my opinion, whatever makes us good Christians makes us good citizens.
“You have raised a question that is on the minds of many Christians, especially Christians who are not in politics. But I can tell you that Christians, who are in politics, are also concerned about the question that you raised on the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Where we are now, my call to Christians is to do what is expected of us. Yes, the agitation must continue. And for my part, as a Christian, I spoke to both the presidential candidate and the other leaders of the party that we must take quick action that we should have taken sooner by approaching the leaders of Christendom and explaining the context of the selection it was about to happen."
“Even if they disagreed with our choice, they would have seen the sincerity of the objective and understood that the decision was not based on competence because we have competent Christians in all the Nigeria, but on strategic political grounds, that's what we do in politics. We have to look at scenarios and calculate where the votes would come from. It's a numbers game."
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday allayed fears among Christians in the country over the controversial All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying it was a calculated political strategy of the party to win the presidential election.
Fayemi told Ado-Ekiti this weekend during a courtesy visit by the new leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ekiti State Chapter, headed by their president, Emmanuel Aribasoye.
He said the choice of a Muslim running mate for APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu was not because there were no competent Christian politicians from the North, as being wrongly peddled in some quarters.
Ekiti Governor has urged Christian leaders to avoid 'disengagement theology' and embrace politics by turning the current challenge into an opportunity to present a charter of demands to all political candidates, based on conditions irreducible minimums acceptable to Christianity.
He said, "Many Christians see politics as a dirty game and, for this reason, are disengaging from the political process. It is time for us to realize that there are compelling reasons for Christians to participate in politics. In my opinion, whatever makes us good Christians makes us good citizens.
“You have raised a question that is on the minds of many Christians, especially Christians who are not in politics. But I can tell you that Christians, who are in politics, are also concerned about the question that you raised on the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Where we are now, my call to Christians is to do what is expected of us. Yes, the agitation must continue. And for my part, as a Christian, I spoke to both the presidential candidate and the other leaders of the party that we must take quick action that we should have taken sooner by approaching the leaders of Christendom and explaining the context of the selection it was about to happen."
“Even if they disagreed with our choice, they would have seen the sincerity of the objective and understood that the decision was not based on competence because we have competent Christians in all the Nigeria, but on strategic political grounds, that's what we do in politics. We have to look at scenarios and calculate where the votes would come from. It's a numbers game."
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