Anglican Church of Nigeria says APC's Muslim-Muslim is totally unacceptable to Christians

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has received a further know to his aspiration after the Church of Nigeria or Anglican Communion attacked his decision to go for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Last  month, Asiwaju Tinubu emerged as the APC presidential candidate after coasting home in a landslide victory following the party's convention in Abuja. Following his victory, he laboured to select a running mate after publicly declaring that he will pick a Christian from the northeast geo-political zone as his deputy but the process appeared fraught with difficulty.

Earlier this month, however, after weeks of prevarication, Asiwaju Tinubu, himself a Muslim, ended up selecting a fellow Muslim in former Borno State governor Senator Kashim Shettima. His choice has polarised the country as the Christian faithful feel highly marginalised and already, several senior party members have left the APC over the matter.

Wading into the debate, Reverend Duke Akamisoko, the Anglican bishop of Kubwa Diocese, said it was irresponsible of the APC to place its political survival over the stability and peace of Nigeria. He described the party’s same-faith ticket as totally unacceptable to the Anglican Communion adding that it constituted a gross abuse of our collective sensitivity as a nation.

Reverend Akamisoko said: “Muslim-Muslim ticket at a time like this is a demonstration of insensitivity to the plurality of religion, the polarised nature of Nigeria, the plight of Christians in Nigeria and the feelings of Christians in northern Nigeria. In fact, it is a direct insult on the entire Christendom. The APC has made a choice, so it is left to Christians in Nigeria to also make their choice.

“There can never be a rational explanation for such a selfish, greedy and self-centered decision by the APC. It is irresponsible of the APC to take its political survival over the stability and peace of Nigeria.

“The party ought to have taken a cue from the opposition against his vice presidential ambition and how President Muhammadu Buhari opted for a Christian running mate in 2015 instead of the Muslim-Muslim ticket. A Muslim-Muslim ticket is the greatest insult on the Christian community, especially in the Northern region.

"Is APC saying that there is no northern Christian who is intelligent enough to be its running mate? Is the APC saying that there is no northern Christian who has a political value to deliver victory to it? Definitely, the answer is no.”