Muslim running mate: My conscience will not allow me to campaign for Tinubu, says Sen Abbo as he quits campaign team

Senator Ishaku Abbo, representing Adamawa North, has quit the campaign team of Aiswaju Bola Tinubu, flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 election.

The lawmaker’s resignation was in protest against the choice of the former governor of Borno State, Kashhim Shettima, a Muslim, as running mate to Tinubu, also a Muslim.

Abbo stated in a tweet that he had met with a support group in Abuja in search of a suitable running mate for the APC flag bearer and concluded that he should not pick a Muslim, as his running mate.

He added that Tinubu should have learned from President Muhammadu Buhari, who chose a Christian running mate in 2015.

“For Tinubu now to be given the ticket and turn around to do what he couldn’t achieve in 2015 despite opposition from Catholics and other Christian leaders is extremely irresponsible,” Abbo said.

“Buhari fought a civil war and understands the consequences of a divided nation. When Tinubu wanted to be VP in 2015, Buhari said no because he understood the importance of unity.

“We sat down in Abuja and strategised and we concluded that he should not take a Muslim as running mate. He (Tinubu) threw away the report.

“My conscience will not allow me to campaign for Tinubu. I am a member of CAN; I cannot deny CAN. I remain in APC. But I will take the survival of my country first over political considerations.

“We cannot work for such a man. I will oppose Christian-Christian ticket because I am interested in the stability of this country. A Christian-Christian ticket will be insensitive to Muslims of this country.

“The country is evenly divided among Muslims and Christians. So any government that is Muslim-Muslim will be illegitimate and will never gain the respect of Christians.”

Tinubu’s choice of Shettima, who was governor of Borno State when the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped in 2014, has elicited diverse reactions among the citizens, many of whom had queried the suspicious role of his government in the kidnap saga.