Despite the controversy generated by the Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023, President Tinubu has again pushed the same ticket for 2027. He has nominated Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate, pending final confirmation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It appears the political relationship between Tinubu and Shettima could be compared to a case of conjoined twins that cannot be separated. Despite the risks, they must exist side by side.

A disregard of Constitution and commonsense
The 1999 Constitution acknowledged that there are different groups in Nigeria, ethnic and religious, and sought to ensure inclusion at different layers of governance. It states at Section 14 (3) that “the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote regional unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The Constitution added in Section 15(1) that, “the motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress.”

Then at 15 (2) it says: “Accordingly, national integration shall be actively encouraged, whilst discrimination on the grounds of place, origin, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited.”

Clearly, candidate Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2023, willfully disregarded the Constitution when they floated the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which is a contradiction of the law and commonsense. Without being told, their choice of Muslim-Muslim ticket discouraged national integration on the ground of religion.

But the proponents said it didn’t matter. They reminded critics that the late chief MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe featured a similar ticket in 1993.

They forgot to add that under military regimes, the finer details of national cohesion were not debated. They were imposed. Proponents of the one-sided ticket also forgot that under the military there was no constitution to regulate political behaviour. In any case, MKO was not brazen in that choice. He came pleading. At the time, religious intolerance was not on reckless display as it is today, with terrorists viciously prosecuting jihad.

Also, the proponents advertised the sentiment that the wife of candidate Bola Tinubu, Oluremi, is a Deaconess and front row personality at the Redeemed Christian Church of God. But the Constitution does not mention the wife of a candidate; neither is it about the religious choice of any political family. It is the survival of the country that is at stake.

Political desperation
Despite the hue and cry, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that ought to properly evaluate the nomination of candidates in line with the Constitution and the Electoral Act, did not see anything wrong with APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket. Tinubu was desperate to win at all costs, including risking the harmony that exists among religious groups. His camp used every arsenal to push the ticket. They hired fake bishops to endorse it.

Their calculation was that having Shettima, who is from the North-East (same zone as Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on the ballot, would checkmate Atiku’s influence and votes. Perhaps it is brinkmanship as far as winning elections is concerned.

But there is no statesmanship in the choice. It is disrespectful and a brazen disregard for the sizeable votes of Christians in the North and elsewhere. Since 1999, no presidential candidate had exhibited the temerity to set such far-reaching precedence, because nothing in the Constitution supports it. Just share desperation and arrogance.

Despite the gambit, the PDP and Atiku outperformed the APC in the North-East, where Atiku secured 51.71 per cent to Tinubu’s 35.19 per cent in the presidential election of 2023. It was in the North-Central and North-West Tinubu recovered remarkably to emerge the overall winner. The Muslim-Muslim trickery wasn’t much of a gamechanger in 2023, but it helped to divide the polity in no small way.

Remember Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State and chief campaigner for Muslim-Muslim ticket, embarked on a reckless journey to Damascus, to promote the ticket and made riotous noises about how other religions don’t matter. After all, he had experimented similar ticket in Kaduna and heavens didn’t fall.

But it turned out, sooner than later that both el-Rufai and Tinubu used the ticket to extort pliable minds. After they formed government, el-Rufai was denied participation without cogent explanation. He got angry and joined the opposition. But dreading el-Rufai’s capacity to de-market APC, the government hounded him into detention. He’s been there for 150 days, kept away from political participation. That’s how deceptive their calculations were.

Stuck with Shettima
If it made just symbolic impact to pick Shettima in 2023, because he didn’t the swing the votes in the North-East, why go that same route towards 2027. Does Tinubu think the Muslim-Muslim ticket is still a big deal? Doesn’t he see that Nigerians are wiser now, especially those who expected the ticket to make impact in their lives? It is not likely that this government has treated any group specially based on religion.

Most Nigerians are victims of the economic hardship imposed by the Tinubu administration. The misery is not limited to any religious group. All Nigerians are paying Tinubu’s petrol tax and they’re going to pay more taxes if this government manages to return in 2027.

For the North-East, there is no particular project that is designed to make lives of the people more pleasant. The North East Development Commission (NEDC) was established by the late President Buhari. What exactly can the people of that region point at as their gains from having their son as Vice President of the Federal Republic, apart from assisting the President with travels to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and a few other global events, when Tinubu is tired of globetrotting?

What gains have accrued to adherents of the Muslim faith, resulting from President Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket? Can’t point at any. The Muslim-Muslim ticket is no longer fashionable. Tinubu must be aware that the trick is outdated, but he is stuck. There were reported moves to shop for another VP, which the North-East stakeholders vehemently rejected. On what grounds would Tinubu have dropped Shettima? Who would have been the replacement?

It is too late now to revert to a Muslim-Christian ticket, as was rumoured, with either Yakubu Dogara or Gen. Christopher Musa as possible replacement. That would have been another obvious deception. Nobody’s going to be fooled anymore. It is not reported anywhere that Christians are desperate for a VP. Good governance is always better.

Why drop Shettima, when the North-East APC is formidable and has gained two PDP governors from Adamawa and Taraba. Shettima was not thought to be Tinubu’s best pick in 2023, when the likes of el-Rufai could have been considered, but he has displayed a great degree of loyalty. Even though there are signs that he is sidelined in the administration, he has not expressed open discontent. He goes where he is asked to and seem to mind his business.

To have dropped Shettima from their joint ticket could have disorganised APC a bit. Yet, there is nothing spectacular about it. What the people of the North-East and maybe the North should demand going forward in the relationship is some respect and better representation.

In their fourth year, President Tinubu has not deemed it fit to transmit executive power to his vice whenever he lounged in France or London, which is not what the Constitution recommends. That can only happen when you do not have confidence in your vice.

Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who was Political Adviser to President Tinubu (in the Office of the Vice President), said as much, that all through the time he served in that office (approximately 17 months), he had no access to the President. He said it was as if the Office of the VP did not exist.

In 2023, the United States was not on Nigeria’s case regarding religious intolerance. But in 2025, the U.S. redesignated Nigeria as a country of Particular Concern (CPC), the second time under President Trump. The other time was in 2020, and the reason Trump and allies gave was that Christians are persecuted in the country and there is no religious freedom.

Even though the government rejected that branding, it began working with the U.S. to fight radical Islamists. There is now increased prosecution and sentencing of terrorists as part of the conditions the U.S. gave, failure which it would impose travels restrictions and economic sanctions on members of the Tinubu government.

Last week, the U.S. Congress approved an amendment to suspend 100 per cent of U.S. assistance to Nigeria until the Federal Government demonstrates measurable progress in tackling terrorism. The Nigerian government is paying $9 million to launder the country’s religiously tainted image in the United States. Some think it is wasteful expenditure to cover up government’s reluctance and failure to deal with religious intolerance.

Religious accountability must begin with the leadership. It is in the manner those associated with insurgency are called out to account for what they know. Till date, Alli Modu Sheriff has not been invited by government to account for how Boko Haram was groomed during his tenure as governor of Borno State. The Vice President, Shettima, who took over from Sheriff has not publicly accounted for his relationship with founders of the insurgency. These are Tinubu’s men.

Those who are close to President Tinubu testify that he is detrabilised and highly liberal on religious matters. But that is not the point. No matter how tolerant a leader is in his private capacity, good intentions cannot be substituted for constitutional imperatives.

If the Tinubu-Shettima ticket survives in 2027, it will set the record of eight years of Muslim-Muslim ticket. It is an anomaly, no matter how it is explained!