No plan to field Muslim-Muslim ticket – APC

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, has dismissed insinuations that the party was planning to field a Muslim-Muslin ticket in the February 2015 presidential election.

He described as “very unfortunate,” but unnecessary the controversy which trailed the interview granted an online newspaper, The cable, by a leading presidential aspirant of the party, Muhammadu Buhari, in which he said he would keep an open mind on the issue of his party’s presidential candidate and running mate.

Mr. Buhari, a Muslim, had in the interview, said he had demonstrated to Nigerians in the past that he was not a religious fundamentalist by picking Christians as his running mates in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections in which he ran.

Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said the APC had never contemplated fielding a presidential and vice presidential candidates who belong to the same faith and that the current debate over the matter was just a distraction to the party.

He explained that the party was pre-occupied with the process of choosing its presidential candidate and that it had not toyed with the issue of who becomes the running mate yet.

“You know what triggered these things. It is very unfortunate. We are trying to get a presidential candidate now. Once that is sorted out, the issue of running mate becomes a simple matter,” the APC national chairman said.

He said Mr. Buhari might have been misunderstood on the matter, stating, “It is his usual way of speaking. You know he is a straightforward man. It (running mate) is not an issue. But that is his own way of putting it and should not be misunderstood.”

Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said the APC has a mission of rescuing the country from alleged mis-governance and therefore would neglect any segment of the country by being insensitive in the choice of candidates for the elections. ...PremiumTimes