A Chieftain of the Northern Elders Forum, Rev. Bitrus Dangiwa, has opined that Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, were right to have opposed the move of a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, to become the party’s vice presidential candidate in 2015.
In a book written by Chairman ThisDay Board of Editors, Segun Adeniyi, ‘Against the Run of Play’, Tinubu narrated how Saraki and El-Rufai blocked him from being President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate.
Addressing journalists on Saturday, Dangiwa said the Senate President was right and that it was “selfish” to have thought that a Muslim-Muslim Presidential ticket would work for the party in 2015.
Dangiwa, who was the Youth President, Christian Association of Nigeria in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, maintained that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would have been disastrous for APC.
Commending Saraki for his action, Dangiwa noted that a good percentage of the country’s Christian population would have been neglected in a Muslim Muslim arrangement.
He said, “Tinubu’s thought of becoming (Nigeria’s) Vice President to a Muslim presidential candidate was not only self-centred or selfish, but it would have worked against the APC.
“We knew Tinubu’s move for a very long time. Most northerners contributed to Saraki’s choice of working against a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2015 poll.
“So, Saraki’s decision not to have a Muslim-Muslim ticket was in the best interest of the socio-political development of the nation. There are still good Muslims and good Christians who mean well for this country; Saraki is one of such good examples.”
