Farouk Aliyu, a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has stated that the North would not be at ease with a Christian-Christian presidential ticket, cautioning that doing so would be tantamount to alienating Muslim voters in the area.
In response to discussions on whether the ruling party should keep or change the Muslim-Muslim ticket that produced President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima in 2023, Aliyu spoke on Friday during an interview on ARISE Television.
The APC mainstay stated that the party will eventually rely on election results when determining the makeup of its ticket, starting with the demographic reality of the North.
“The numbers are there to show whether to field a Muslim or a Christian, in my opinion,” Aliyu stated.
“There is no question that there are more Muslims in the northern half of the country. Therefore, any party may choose to field a Christian, but if it comes down to numbers, it is ideal for the party to field a Muslim because there are undoubtedly more Muslims in the North.
He warned that the ruling party might face electoral challenges if a Christian candidate were to replace a Muslim candidate in the North.
He stated, “You’ll have a problem if you drop a Muslim for a Christian in the North.”
Additionally, Aliyu maintained that Christians are not being marginalized under the Tinubu administration, claiming that the problems surrounding the Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023 had mostly subsided.
He declared, “This government has nothing to demonstrate that it is favoring Muslims over Christians.”
“So, I think the Muslim-Muslim ticket can still fly with the APC,” he continued.
When asked if the North would back a Christian-Christian presidential ticket, the APC leader dismissed the idea.
According to Aliyu, “the North will not be comfortable with a Christian-Christian ticket because you are completely alienating the Muslims in the North.”
His statements came after Hannatu Musawa, the Minister of Art, Culture, and Creative Economy, cautioned that the APC may suffer politically if Vice-President Kashim Shettima was removed from the party’s 2027 ticket.
