There are indications that Christian leaders in the country have decided to reconsider their stance on the vexed issue of Muslim- Muslim ticket and may have given the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the benefit of doubt ahead of the 2023 polls.
The emergence of former Borno State governor, Sen Kashim Shettima as vice presidential candidate of the governing APC was greeted with stiff opposition from the Christian community in the country, with Christian leaders and politicians vowing vehemently not to vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
But in what appeared to be a default to the belief that his intentions to govern Nigeria could be honest, the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday presented a charter of demands and issues to the APC presidential candidate.
The Christian body demanded equal rights for all religions and their adherents, right to self-determination by all ethnic groups, right to control natural resources by communities that bear them, state police or a decentralised policing system, devolution of power to states, and equitable electoral system that guarantees the right to vote and be voted for by all among others.
CAN however told the APC standard bearer that it is vehemently opposed to open grazing in the country.
Tinubu who met with the CAN leaders in Abuja at an interactive session assured them that the same way his administration did not discriminate against anyone either based on tribe, religion or gender when he was Lagos State governor, he would not begin such discrimination if elected president in the 2023 general polls.
Credit: Leadership