Tinubu Disregarded Warning Against Same Faith Ticket–Dogara

For the umpteenth time, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has hit the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, accusing him of dismissing warning by Christian leaders against picking fellow Muslim as running mate

The Bauchi State-born politician has been very vocal in his stance against the same faith ticket of the APC.

As a member of the Northern Christian Leadership Council, he has been leading the campaign against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which he described in one forum as a threat to national unity, peace and inclusivity.

Speaking similarly on Tuesday while delivering keynote address at a summit tagged, ‘Meet The Church’ organised by the Nigeria National Christian Coalition (NNCC) with the theme: ‘The Role of the Church in Nation-Building’, Dogara again took a swipe at the APC, describing the ticket as dead on arrival.

“In their convoluted posturing, they have placed state-building ahead of nation building; a task never before achieved in history and we need no seer to tell us that such endeavor is guaranteed to end in spectacular failure. No divided people have ever built any civilization,” Dogara, a ranking member of the APC said.

He declared that,“I am so elated that today’s church in Nigeria has shaken off the beast of complacency of the past into fire by speaking up and resisting measures adopted by some political platforms that will hamper nation building.

“In a manner that negated the fundamentals of nation building, such as shared identity, values and visions, the APC adopted a same faith ticket in a country that has never attained nationhood.”

He said there were clear warnings against adopting the “disease” as the church had warned against it through CAN, Catholic Secretariat, ECWA and so many other Christian bodies.l yet APC disregarded those warnings.

“These warnings were not only ignored, but dismissed in one fell swoop by the APC presidential candidate who strangely believes that he can build a strong, secure and viable nation-state without first forging a shared identity, vision and values for our people thereby enabling us transit from citizens of a country into a nation of people with strong shared identity and values,” he said.

He added that, “To demonstrate that the church is right, it is not alone in condemning the same faith ticket. Other prominent Islamic clerics and Muslim leaders have also spoken in the same light.

“It is a good omen that both Christian and Muslim elites are not complacent over this matter. To this end it will be easy to generate the needed elite consensus that is key to nation building.

“All nations are built by elite consensus while all countries that failed in nation-building were destroyed by elite complacency.”

Warning against the ticket in clear terms, Dogara urged, “Every Christian knows that our God does not tolerate waste. It is unchristian for the church to waste anything given to us from above as we own nothing except what is given to us from above.

“I have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the church must not waste its votes or sow the same on unproductive grounds.

“Every Christian must see his vote as talents given to him by God to trade with and as seeds that must not be wasted.

“The only way we can build a nation out of Nigeria is by doing the right things. A united, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria is possible if we go to work. We can start building that (sic) Nigeria of our dreams if we don’t waste our votes in the next election circle.”

Also speaking at the event, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ifeanyi Okowa, urged religious organisations and groups to show interest in engaging the political class and speak on sensitive national issues.

The Delta State governor who was represented by Senator Uche Ekwunife, said,“We know the challenges. We don’t want people to come and tell us our challenges.”