A group, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, has blasted a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, for attacking his party, the All Progressives Congress, over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the party.
The group described the former SGF’s stance on the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as “narrow-minded, unguarded political sentimentalism and provocative.”
The National President of the AYCF, Yerima Shettima, said in a statement released to The PUNCH in Kaduna on Friday that there could be no better choice of Vice President for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu than Senator Kashim Shettima in the party.
He described the APC presidential running mate and former Borno State Governor as a “nationalist” to the core, adding “no one should turn our democratic space into the home of religious extremism.”
According to the AYCF, Lawal and his co-travellers “in their myopic, sentimental stance, should stop this madness in this new century of advancement all over the world.”
The statement added, “Talking of Muslim-Muslim ticket, have these charlatans become so blinded by emotional religious fixation that they forgot history?
“We had Christian-Christian ticket with Awolowo under the UPN in 1978 and Azikiwe under the UNPP when he picked Professor Ishaya Audu – another Christian as running mate.
“Since the emergence of democracy till date, the South-South, South-East states have never given the chance for Muslims to taste the seat of running mates even at the level of governorship.
“Anti-Shettima campaign promoters should shut up before they create bad blood along religious fault-lines and drag the nation into further insecurity.”
