The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged all political parties in the country, especially those considering running a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket to work towards promoting the common interest of all Nigerians, rather than their own personal interests.

CAN, in a letter addressed to the Chairman, All Political Parties in Nigeria, a copy of which was obtained by The Star on Tuesday, urged the political parties to ensure they balance their presidential tickets along religious lines, to avert possible unrest after the 2023 general election.

The association, in the letter signed by its General Secretary, Joseph Daramola, warned that any Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket for the forthcoming polls would be totally rejected by the association.

It further described the move as “an undisguised effort to nurture religious conflicts and destabilise the country”.

CAN stressed that it remains committed to praying and working for peace, justice, and stability of the country, and was always concerned about issues capable of throwing the country into strife and pains.

The letter partly read: “We recognize the right of political parties to decide on who becomes their candidates for general elections. The constitution and the electoral law have granted the members of the parties the exclusive right to choose the candidates that citizens will vote into political offices in 2023.

“This right calls for a deep sense of responsibility and accountability. It requires that in exercising this right, party members be sensitive to the issues that confront the country and focus on promoting the common good. Good politics is about promoting the common good, not only about promoting self-interest.

“In order to protect the good of all citizens, the constitution grants the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the responsibility to ensure internal democracy in the parties and free, fair, and credible electoral process so that those who govem the commonwealth are those the citizens freely elected. Our responsibility in this wise as servants of God is to watch carefully and to pray intensely and to always speak truth about the workings of this  constitutional arrangement.

READ ALSO: Catholic Church warns parties against Muslim-Muslim ticket

“As the parties conclude their primaries, we want to restate clearly our message on the balancing of presidential tickets to guarantee that the nation enjoys peace and security after elections. As the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria, we call on all the presidential candidates to choose men or women of alternative religion as their runningmates.

“For avoidance of doubt, the CAN will not accept any presidential ticket that is Christian-Christian or Muslim- Muslim. This simply means that where the presidential candidate of the party is a Christian, the deputy should be a Muslim, and where the presidential candidate is a Muslim, the deputy should be a Christian.

“There should not situation where the presidential ticket of a political party in Nigeria, whether a major or minor party, will be two Christians as presidential candidate and runningmate, or two Muslims as presidential candidate and runningmate. All within us as Nigerians must be done to douse religious and ethnic tensions in the land.

“This minimum requirement for a valid presidential ticket in the Nigeria of today is that it  is religiously diverse. With the crisis of religious fundamentalism and its mainstreaming into policymaking and administrative actions in Nigeria today, anything short of a Christian-Muslim or Muslim-Christian ticket is an undisguised effort to nurture religious conflicts and destabilize the country.

“In the context of growing religiously motivated terrorism, the recent being the dastard terror attack in a church in Owo, Ondo State, that killed scores of Christian worshippers in which the Federal Government fingered the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), conceiving and executing any plot to have both the President and Vice President come from the same religion is a deliberate effort to ignite the fire of religious warfare in Nigeria.

“Therefore, we give notice to all political parties that we will protect the religious diversity of the Nigerian state and will mobilize politically against any political party that sows the seed of religious conflict by presenting to Nigeria a presidential ticket that is MuslimMuslim or Christian-Christian.

“We will consider such action as a declaration ofwar against the freedom of religion, the peace and security ofthe Nigerian state. We will consider such insensitive action as evidence of a deliberate action to plunge the country  further into religious violence and extremism and destroy the foundations of the  continuation of the Nigerian state.

“As the presidential candidates prepare to nominate their running mates, we sound the note of warning, through this letter, that only a diversified presidential ticket will be acceptable to Nigeria in line with the constitutional requirement of power sharing and the responsibility of sensitivity to Nigeria’s deep religious diversities.”

The Star