By Miftaudeen Raji
Labor Party vice-presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed has vowed the party will win Lagos state in the February 25 presidential election.
Baba-Ahmed had this to say in an interview on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Tuesday.
He said that a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket will not work in Nigeria, considering Nigeria’s multi-ethnic peculiarities.
Baba-Ahmed rejected the same-faith ticket submitted by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
He said: “Why today Tinubu is not the vice president of Nigeria is the same reason why he cannot be president.”
“Which could not happen in 2015 when the then candidate Buhari applied for any Tinubu nomination, because that setup is over. It can no longer work in Nigeria. [A] The Muslim-Muslim ticket can no longer work. That setup can no longer work.”
Baba-Ahmed underlined the place of faith in Nigeria’s political structure, saying that the socio-political composition of the country is not a random occurrence.
He said: “The creator of the heavens and the earth does not make mistakes. This is the Federal Republic of Nigeria duly filed with the United Nations and registered as well.”
“It is not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for example, or the Vatican or Iran or Libya or Mauritania. It is a federal republic, and God was not wrong to put us all, 250 [tribes].
“You find other countries, almost 100 percent: a religion, a language, a group. Not the same in Nigeria – 250 [tribes] at least and two great competing religions. And we say that it is not a mistake of our creator”.
According to him, of 18 political parties that presented presidential candidates, 15 have lagged behind.
He added that of the other three, two have been “misconfigured”, saying they have “misaligned with the dictates of winning the elections in Nigeria.”
