A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has urged Nigerians to reject the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), warning that it would polarise the country along religious and tribal lines.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain gave the warning on Monday while speaking at the Arewa Christian Indigenous Pastors Association day of prayers, awards, and book dedication/launch at Evangelical Church of West Africa, in Jos, Plateau State.
Stating that the Muslim-Muslim ticket was against the country’s unity, Dogara claimed that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, had a lot of baggage that would make him a foreign asset should he become the next president to the detriment of the people.
He slammed Tinubu for allegedly telling Muslim leaders he is waging a jihad while simultaneously saying he will be fair and just to Christians because his partner is a Christian.
Dogara said: “The crucial role we can play as Christians is to examine the character of the candidates running for offices especially the highest office in the country, and disavow those of them that we know are not a reflection of our moral ethos.
“Some may say it is bitter politics, but it is not because anyone putting himself in a position to lead others has wittingly or unwittingly placed his character to be called to question.
“This is because, without character, you cannot influence people, and without influence, you cannot lead people. Once we know the truth, failure to declare the truth we know, is not virtue, but cowardice.
“Thanks to the leadership of CAN for long taking a stand against the Muslim – Muslim ticket of the APC mainly because it is capable of polarising our politics along religious line. They wanted a balanced ticket so that all of us, Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, would unite behind it to build a nation that works for all of us. But in addition to this, we now have many other reasons not to back the APC ticket.
“As a Scandinavian adage instructs us, ‘you may dress the shepherd in silk, but he will still smell of the goat.’ The more his handlers attempt to dress him in silk, the more he smells of the he-goat.
“Since he won’t talk to you on his campaign tours, he won’t talk to you when he is in power. Which one is easier? To talk to you when he is seeking for your votes or explain himself when he is in power? When he does talk, he pledges he is waging a jihad to Muslim leaders as amply elucidated by a serving north-west governor but when he talks to Christians, he says he will be fair and just to Christians because his partner is a Christian.
“The perfect act of a con artist. A con man succeeds only because he makes you keep your focus on what you will gain while distracting you from focusing on what you stand to lose.
“It’s all a scam and nothing less or else. They only dance in their campaign because they don’t have anything to say to you and when they pick the courage to talk, all we hear is that, “it is his turn to chop because he didn’t chop alone.”
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