Supporters of the Plateau State Governor, Lalong and some stakeholders of the APC in the state on Sunday quarrelled over the APC Vice Presidential slot.
A former Minister of State for Information and Communications, Ibrahim Nakande, in a statement, said Tinubu should not pick Lalong as his running mate.
Nakande said, “As a major stakeholder in the All Progressive Congress in Plateau State, let me without mincing words, first of all, make it clear that, Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not the choice of Governor Simon Lalong at the just concluded presidential primary of the APC that was held at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
“Governor Lalong threw his weight fully behind a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, who has been his political ally for long time and every sincere observer of political events can attest to this.”
He alleged that Lalong was trying to claim he supported Tinubu when he did not.
Nakande added, “But beyond the issue of who Governor Lalong supported, I make bold to say that he does not deserve the vice presidential ticket because he is not a leader who believes in justice and fairness.”
In response, a former Deputy Majority Leader, Federal House of Representatives, Baba Akawu, dismissed claims made by the former minister as lacking in evidence and a product of blackmail and falsehood.
The former lawmaker insisted that the North-Central deserved the position of the vice president in the interest of equity, justice and fairness.
On its part, a group, Save Nigeria Democracy, warned against a Muslim-Muslim or a Christian-Christian ticket ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The group in a statement by its spokesperson, Jayekuti Oluwadamilare, in Lokoja said such a move by any political party would spell doom for Nigeria’s democracy.
Also, the National Vice President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Prophet Isa El-Buba, in an interview with journalists in Jos, said that it would be an exercise in futility for any political party to present a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Buba spoke on the sidelines of the burial of the Pioneer Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bauchi State Chapter, Rev. Nathaniel Odekunle.
The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Yola, Most Reverend Stephen Mamza, also cautioned the APC about adopting a defective Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Mamza said besides such a presidential ticket being dead on arrival, it would serve to further widen current divisions in the country along religious lines.
The Catholic priest also said he was compelled, out of patriotic zeal, to wade into the debate over the dilemma Tinubu had found himself.
He also described the arguments being advanced from some quarters in support of the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, for the APC presidential standard bearer as “disheartening”, because the “Nigeria of 1993, during the time of Abiola and Kingibe, was completely different from Nigeria of today, heading into the 2023 elections.”
He said Muslim- Muslim ticket was discriminatory, adding that it would further fuel exclusion, which was unhelpful, because everybody needs to be carried along.
He said, “ So I wish to advise, especially the ruling party, to desist from going ahead with the idea of Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket. Why did they not decide to pick two people from the North, the reason is that you want to carry people along.
“Why we did not even think of carrying a presidential aspirant, and his running mate from the south? It is because they want to carry everyone along.
