Some APC members who were upset over the party’s Muslim/Muslim ticket stormed the national secretariat of the ruling party to air their displeasure.
As the party officially revealed former Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima as the party’s vice presidential candidate, demonstrators broke into the secretariat.
At Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in Abuja, the party introduced Shettima as Bola Tinubu’s vice presidential running mate, according to an earlier report from InsightnaijaTV.
Six deluxe buses and a few automobiles were used to transport the demonstrators, who were being led by a few party members under the banner of the APC Hausa-Fulani Youth Forum, to the Secretariat.
The irate members could be seen hoisting various flags and singing songs of solidarity.
“A cry for justice,” “Drop Shettima and give the slot to our Christbrother’shers,” “Discrimination and mutual suspicion in our country,” and other slogans were displayed on some of the banners.
The Forum’s convener, Abdullahi Bilal Mohamadu, told Punch that the group would continue to protest until the party made the appropriate changes.
Speaking about why the protestors demonstrated on the same day that Shettima was proclaimed, Mohamadu claimed that it was an intentional act.
Additionally, he delivered a letter to Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s national chairman.
The letter reads, “We write to your good office in light of the prevailing circumstances arising from the decision of our Presidential candidate to select a Northern Muslim as his vice presidential candidate.
“While it must be stated that there is a right to make decisions, however, such decisions must not be made to the collective detriment of the sensibilities of the people that make up the country of Nigeria, especially at a time of mutual suspicion amongst the Christians and Muslims in the northern part of the country.
“As concerned stakeholders of the APC and those who constitute the voting strength of our party, we find it worrisome that such a decision could be taken without recourse to its implication on the electoral chances of the party and the attendant uproar such a decision could bring about in the country.
“In our opinion, this is insensitive and a gross display of a lack of respect for our Christian brothers and sisters especially the Middle Belt minority who have given all their best to us as one northern Nigeria. Picking another Muslim from the northeastern part of the country as his running mate is politically and morally indefensible.
“In Northern Nigeria, there are credible candidates with rich credentials and with massive grassroots following that can complement the presidential ticket of the APC in the presidential elections. As such, the Hausa – Fulani Youths Forum sees the selection of Senator Kashim Shettima as an aberration that should be corrected with immediate effect by the relevant authorities within the party.
“The implication of non-action in this regard can only be imagined, so much so that the majority of the eligible voters in Northern Nigeria have elected to boycott the APC in protest of the disrespect and disregard to our Northern Christian brothers, whose population and relevance in the scheme of things in the region cannot be overemphasized.
“If our party is desirous of recording electoral success in the 2023 presidential elections, it must retrace its steps by selecting a Christian from the Middle Belt as its vice presidential candidate. The party must not be perceived as promoting a religious agenda by fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“We consequently say no to a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the APC. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to kindly intervene to save the party from an electoral crisis. We urge Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emulate the example of President Muhammadu Buhari in the choice of his running mate in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.
“Our Christian brothers and sisters deserve a place in the scheme of things, and our party must not be seen as a religiously insensitive party. The time to act is now.”
