APC senator recommends bill proscribing same-faith ticket – Nexus News
The senator representing Kogi-West, Smart Adeyemi, has suggested a bill that will prohibit same-faith presidential tickets by any political party after the 2023 polls.
The decision is coming at a time the dust raised by the decision of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Muslim, to select another Muslim, Kashim Shetima, as his vice was yet to settle.
Adeyemi, who showed journalists a copy of the proposed bill on Sunday in Abuja, said that the Senate is seeking an amendment to Section 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act.
He noted that the Muslim-Muslim ticket of his political party, the APC, which raised controversies in the country, necessitated the move.
The senator said, “Section 84 of the Principal Act will be amended by inserting a new subsection 3 which will state thus: ‘No political party shall nominate candidates of the same religion as presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate after the 2023 election.
“When this is accommodated, it will serve as a guide against any oversight such as this in the future as further occurrences will be deemed as a silent policy which is capable of bringing down the fabrics of the nation.”
He said he had discussed widely with the leadership of the Senate and his other associates on the need for the review.
He, however, said though alarms raised by the Christian Association of Nigeria over a same-faith presidential ticket are true, the pedigree of Tinubu and Shetima, will avert all concerns being raised.
He said Tinubu and Shettima should be judged based on their pedigrees and not their faith.
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Adeyemi added, “Nigerians should look at the individual candidates contesting for the presidency in 2023 and not the political parties they belong to the religion they practice.
“Based on my conviction, despite the same faith ticket, Tinubu and Shetima are the best for the country come 2023.
“They have demonstrated required capacities, competence and commitment while in office as governors of Lagos and Borno States separately.
“Asiwaju Tinubu, in particular, demonstrated his pan-Nigerian disposition with his cabinet composition devoid of tribal or religious sentiments. He and Shettima are, in actual fact, Nigeria’s candidates that should be voted for.”
The senator criticized the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, for going against the zoning policy of his political party, stating that it is the turn of the South to produce the next President.
He also took a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Labor Party, Peter Obi, for reportedly believing in street shows, which he stated, cannot in any way win an election.
