An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain has claimed that Christians are now much more comfortable with the party’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket than they were prior to the 2023 general election.
Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television’s The Morning Show, Farouk Aliyu argued that the current administration has successfully dispelled initial fears of religious marginalisation.
Defending the decision to retain Vice President Kashim Shettima as the running mate for the 2027 presidential election, Aliyu stated that the APC had already earned the confidence of Nigerians in the previous election cycle.
“Our leader, the President, decided in his wisdom not to change the winning ticket. And the Christians in this country, I am sure, are now comfortable, much, much more comfortable than when we came up with the Muslim-Muslim ticket,” Aliyu said.
He recalled that the party’s decision to field two Muslim candidates in 2023 generated widespread criticism amid concerns that Christians could be sidelined in government.
“That was when there was a lot of hue and cry that the Christians were going to be marginalised. Well, now it’s history that nobody is being marginalised along religious lines,” he added, asserting that the president has governed without religious bias since assuming office, leading the country strictly as a Nigerian rather than under any religious toga.