A US-based Nigerian Faith Based Community Organisation has described the justification of the Muslim/Muslim ticket by the Governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu as self-serving and uncalled for.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had settled for the former Governor of Borno state, Senator Kashim Shettima, a Northern Muslim, and the development had resulted in a sharp division between him and the Christian community.
But Akeredolu in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde, had at the Holy Ghost Convention Dinner of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries in Ibadan, Oyo state, asked the Christian community to forgive Tinubu and vote for him despite the Muslim/Muslim ticket saga.
The President of the US based Nigerian Faith Based Community Organisation, Bishop Samuel Ayeni, in a statement he issued in New Jersey on Wednesday, described the governor’s comment as “disappointing’’.
“It is with disappointment that I read the comments attributed to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State last Sunday where the Governor was quoted to have justified the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and begged Christians to accept the injustice.
“This is not the kind of statement that is expected from a governor expected to be a statesman, not to mention one who is the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum. We condemn in its entirety Governor Akeredolu’s statements and cannot accept such an opportunistic plea he made at the event. A Muslim-Muslim ticket does not augur well for the country.
“That the governor made such comments using such a prestigious gathering of notable clerics to justify the Muslim- Muslim ticket exposes not only the desperation of the backers of this act of iniquity but also a form of unmitigated insult on all people of goodwill, not just believers.
“The governor’s statement was not in a good faith, and is unfortunate. We are disappointed. That the APC presidential ticket has gone to the South West does not justify the morally reprehensible choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. The play by the governor on competence over religion is simply a smokescreen.
“The Muslim-Muslim ticket has no gain for the South, South West, and indeed the entire country unlike the governor’s claim attempting to provoke some southern affinity. It will only succeed in further polarizing the already fractured nation along ethnic and religious lines. The adoption of the same religion ticket is a lost opportunity to unite the nation, not a gain in any way,’’ he said.
