A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from Northern Nigeria, Dr. Daniel Bwala, has announced his resignation from the party.
Speaking in an interview with the African Independent Television, AIT, Bwala said his decision followed the decision of the presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to choose a Muslim as running mate in the 2023 general elections.
When asked how he felt with the choice of a Muslim as a Vice presidential candidate by Tinubu, he said:
Well, it came to me as a surprise, as a member of APC, who has been loyal to APC over the years. For about 7 years we’ve been dogged because we believe in the ideals of APC, we believe that this same issue the president was confronted with in 2014, and against all odds, even at the risk of losing his election, he decided that the right thing to do would be to have a balancing of the ticket.
“I’ve said, any political party that does not have an understanding of balancing a course that is right and that is moral, that is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.
“At this point of Nigeria, when we have been divided along fouled lines, it is imperative that a party that is leading, a governing party should do the right thing and the right thing would be to balance the ticket, to have interfaith balance of tickets and go into elections.
“The Nigeria people are wonderful people, there is a notion that the reason why the choice of a Muslim is necessary is because if you choose a Christian you can’t get a vote. That is a fallacy. A lot Islamic clerics and top people in government have expressed their fears and advised that the ticket be balanced.
“Everybody who has ever been elected in Nigeria as a president has always had the majority of the votes coming from the North. The Northern voters don’t discriminate, but the problem we have here is that the decision of the party is a flagrant abuse of the principles of democracy, inclusiveness, fair play and that is why I use this occasion officially on the day that he’s announcing to also announce my resignation from All Progressives Congress”.
