APC's political motive behind Muslim-Muslim ticket, says Group

Mr. Realwan Okpanachi, the Director-General of the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as a political calculation for success.

Okpanachi, who explained this on Sunday in Lokoja, said it was never meant to insult Christians.

He spoke at a reception organized in his honor following his appointment as Director-General, the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, and a Town Hall meeting on the Asiwaju/Shettima policy document, tagged Renewed Hope 2023.

The Abuja-based legal practitioner said that there were many Christians of good faith and conscience supporting him because Asiwaju cannot be pinned to a religion or ethnicity.

"I am a Christian, and the speakers who came for this program are Christians."

"Tinubu is a man that has lived above board, he is a man that has built a very solid bridge across the divide of religion or ethnicity.

"He is a man who has been married for over 40 years to a Christian and Senior Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

"All his children are Christians, and he is a man who has appointed many Christians into his cabinet as governor of Lagos State," he said.

Okpanachi also declared that Asiwaju "is a very good friend of the Christian community, and because of that, Nigerians don't have any fear, and those that are touting Muslim-Muslim tickets are mischief makers fighting for their own selfish and ugly interests."

According to him, the majority of Nigerians appreciate the reasons behind the decision for Muslim-Muslim tickets, and "we don't see it as an affront to the Christian community."

Speaking in the same vein, the Chairman of the occasion, retired Col. Suleiman Babanawa, said the choice of Shettima as Asiwaju's running mate was a wise one and based purely on political consideration.

He said that politics was a game of numbers and that there was a great difference between competence and political value.

"Would you rather lose millions of votes from Borno for a few thousand from certain states because of religion or ethnicity?" It's a pure political calculation, and it has nothing to do with either despising or spitting on Christians.

He said that God would plant Sen. Oluremi Tinubu as "Queen Esther of our time" to open the doors of Aso Rock for the people of this country.

"The Asiwaju/Shettima ticket is the best for Nigeria because, at the end of the day, if we are to emancipate Nigerians, the rich, the poor, and the downtrodden, all we need is a man who has capacity and a pair that is compatible and can win elections."

"If you want good governance, take Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima; if you want good security, think Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shettima."

"If you want complete emancipation and something to hand over to the next generation, let us think about a man who has a capacity."

According to him, "Barrister Realwan Okpanachi is an exceptional young man who has caught a niche of excellence for himself."

"He is not among the group of lazy Nigerian youths; he is one who has distinguished himself by pure dint of hard work and doggedness. I appreciate him. He's an ideal son, and I love him."

Prof. Adamu Usman, the Chairman of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Board and former SA to the President on Legal Matters, Research, and Documentation, reviewed the policy documents of the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023.

Usman urged youths not to take politics as a profession and to diligently pursue their career or vocation and play politics as a part-time activity rather than taking it as a profession.

He said that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration would focus on security and deploy modern technologies to check the activities of criminals, adding that "when the risk of apprehension is higher, people will be forced to behave themselves."

Various speakers at the occasion eulogized Okpanachi as a young man who has distinguished himself through hard work in his legal profession and political landscape.