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By Joseph Adahnu, Yola
The North-East National Vice Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Mustapha Salihu says he believes that when there is a more competent, experience and who can offer more votes nothing would have stop them from having a Christian running mate.
Salihu stated this in an interview immediately after the northeast zonal tour of APC in Yola Adamawa state saying that their meeting with stakeholders was fruitful with the candid manner stakeholders spoke.
He said despite the little hiccups in the party, it is stronger now than ever expressing optimism of the party’s comprehensive victory come 2023 as solutions are very much in sight.
Responding to a question on Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by his party, the APC national vice chairman northeast said that although he repects the opinion of those who are voicing their concern noted that the inclination towards religious politics may be danger to our collective democracy.
“At this upper echelon when people go to share money, when they go to discuss business, when they go to partnership in blue- chip companies nobody talk about religion. No one talk about how many share should go to Christian or Muslim why are they using it against us? It is fundamentally wrong. I am not dignifying any high agitations using religion as a yarstick.
His words, “I don’t want to hear anything of Christian running mate because during the gathering we have senior Christians who spoke well on what we are doing, so I don’t jettisone or yearning of other Christian that we should have Christian as running mate.”
Acoording to him, “I don’t want to use that as yardstick, they would have brought this up, we would seen if we have a competent Christian that has more experience, more to offer can bring more votes , then I will listen but we don’t then if for instance Shetima is born in Christian in Padio home or if Padio is born in Maiduguri let’s accept where we are been born.
The APC northest vice chairman noted that “Northeast alone cannot determine who becomes the president of this country we can’t do it alone we must enter into partnership with other zones to achieve our goal therefore it is not yardstick for me measuring anything, I don’t want us to use what our masses will come to adopt.
He said in other wards, “I don’t see religion as a social cleavage, I see class as better and stonger cleavage than religion preferably we talk about having the nots than for me to be talking about religion being a social cleavage.
He also noted that, “Conflict rather than peaceful growth is the engine for progress. Society itself move in cyclical nature from antithesis to synthesis and that is how it moves cyclically until it achieves optimal equilibrium where you have peace not just absence of violence but also presence of justice.
“We are more than optimistic of victory. If you see a political party being quiet after primaries that scenario is what we call graveyard silence. It is dangerous.
He butressed that, “it is good for the people to voice out their grievances so that you can follow them house to house and beg them to reconcile and come to work together. In 2019 you remember we don’t have any case in court. People kept quiet but they fought us during election and we lost. It is good now we see various uprising coming up so that we will address them together,”
Salihu noted that the northeast secretariat will come up with a compendium to document the complaints, suggestions and concerns made by members so that appropriate measures could be adopted to ensure the unification of the party ahead of 2023 election.
