The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has said he prays for a day when Nigeria will produce an all-Christian presidential ticket.
He expressed confidence that such a pairing would emerge victorious at the polls.
Sule spoke on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he responded to concerns raised by the Nigeria Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, over the possibility of another same-faith presidential ticket in 2027.
The governor dismissed suggestions that the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket amounted to religious exclusion.
He said the country was, in fact, overdue for a Christian-Christian pairing to test the same electoral fortune that had favoured Muslim-Muslim tickets in the past.
“I pray that one day Nigeria will have a Christian-Christian ticket, and it will win. That’s what I pray to see,” Sule said.
He recalled that the country had previously witnessed a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket through the late Chief Moshood Abiola in the 1993 election. He noted that such pairings had gone on to record victory at the polls.
“You can see both elections have been clear that the Muslim-Muslim ticket has won,” he said.
Sule said it was expected of Kwankwaso, as an opposition member, to raise concerns about the APC’s ticket arrangement.
He argued that no governor within the party had ever made similar allegations against it.
“I think it is normal for Senator Kwankwaso, who I respect a lot, to say that because he’s opposition. He cannot say anything good in that manner. So when he said that, it is expected of him to say that.
“I don’t think he will tell me today that another governor within the APC is going to tell you he’s awful. Another governor is going to tell you he’s an albatross,” he said.
The governor cited Section 14(3) of the constitution, which he said provides for inclusiveness and representation across all parts of the country. He said Section 15 established the federal character principle around ethnicity.
“It all actually happens in Section 14(3) of the constitution, where it’s talking about making sure that there is inclusiveness, there is representation, and all parts of the country, none of them is neglected, none of them is not carried along.
“That’s where federal character came in, following Section 15 of the same constitution that also talks about ethnicity. There is no place where it talks about religion. Section 14 didn’t talk about religion. Section 15 didn’t talk about religion,” he said.
Asked whether he had a Christian as his deputy, Sule answered in the affirmative, noting that his deputy, Emmanuel Akabe, had held the position throughout his tenure in Nasarawa State.
“I’ve always had a Christian as a deputy. In Nasarawa State, it has always been a Christian,” he said.
Pressed on why it was important to have a Christian deputy, Sule said the choice was based on competence rather than religious balancing, adding that political arrangements varied from state to state depending on local realities.
“No, no, no, we thought it was important because Emmanuel Akabe is competent. Our state is different from Nigeria. You cannot take a particular state.
“Take Enugu, for instance, it has a Christian-Christian arrangement. Take Bayelsa, it’s Christian-Christian,” he said.
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