CAN president warns against Muslim/Muslim ticket

As presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the major opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), move to pick their running mates, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Samson Ayokunle, on Sunday, reiterated calls on parties to avoid Muslim/Muslim tickets.

The CAN President who spoke during Democracy Day, advised against Muslim Muslim tickets, warning that such action “will lead to chaos”.

The CAN President urged politicians to engage in issues-based campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections, adding that “ You can rule only if there is a nation”.

However, in his message, the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo charged Nigerians to embrace democracy to strengthen national unity and build social cohesion.

Osinbajo stated that “democracy works because the values of justice, equality, fairness and inclusion, which underpin democratic governance, are also at the heart of our Christian faith.”

According to him, “Democracy works, all the more so in a heterogeneous union like ours, through negotiations and compromises carried out in good faith. And each year brings us closer to a more perfect union, a more mature democracy.

The vice president who was represented by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation ( SGF), stated that the commemoration provides an “opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a people. It invites sobriety and gratitude.”

“It allows us to remember the decades characterized by a lack of freedom, suspicion and uncertainty, and calls to mind the prayers, faith and courageous actions that brought us to a turning point in 1999, one accompanied by hope and promise.

Quoting cupidity from the Holy Bible, the vice president recalls how in Deuteronomy Chapter 16, “God commanded the people through Moses to “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”

“In Esther 9:20-22, following the great deliverance of the Jews from the devious plots of Haman, it says:

“Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar is the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.”

“And so in celebrating our Democracy Day, in line with biblical and historical traditions, we assure ourselves that the hands of God are never too short to deliver and that His grace will always prevail for our good.

“Equally important, is that we also assure ourselves, that no matter how challenging the situation or moment might be, there is always enough God-given strength within us, as a people, to surmount them.

He noted that Nigerians have always risen to the occasion when it mattered most.

“We rose to the occasion when colonial powers subjugated our people and lorded over our resources.

“We rose to the occasion following the ravages of a civil war to rebuild a united country no matter how imperfect.

“We rose to the occasion when enduring military dictatorships pushed us to the edge of extinction and negotiated our way into a democracy that provides a platform for us to build a country, we can all be proud of.

“And we have come this far because of all of us, from the North to the South.

Osinbajo also recalled how Democracy Day was moved from May 29 to June 12 by a President from the North in honour of a political leader from the South.

“In the last couple of weeks, party primaries have been held by political parties big and small and across the country, without violence, rancour or the prevalence of bitter court cases as have characterized the process in times past. We are growing.

He noted that the social contract between the government and the people with the ballot as arbiter is daily being strengthened, adding that “the combined effort of government, the people and civil society across the federation are bringing us closer to our highest democratic ideals and aspirations.

“We only have to keep moving forward, each one of us playing our part.

“It is possible for light to overcome darkness, for joy to overcome sorrow, for peace to prevail over terror, for us to be united irrespective of our cultural, linguistic, religious or even ideological differences,” he said,

“When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does.”

“We have seen the rain coming over Nigeria. A rain of peace and prosperity. One which like the goodness of God touches everyone no matter who or where they are.

“We know the challenges. We live with them. But we also know, and we have seen, in the words of Paul the Apostle that:

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,” and that our nation will continue its long but steady march toward the fulfilment of its God-ordained destiny.

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