Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has said there is nothing wrong with a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
Ladoja, who spoke at his Bodija, Ibadan-residence after the Eid-el-Kabir prayers on Saturday, said the sentiment surrounding a Muslim-Muslim ticket should not be the impediment for electing competent leaders.
He urged Nigerians to keep praying for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, not to be treated the same way the acclaimed winner of the June 12,1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, was treated.
The June 12,1993 presidential election was annulled by the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, while Abiola died in prison in 1998
According to the former governor, there are many factors involved in electing a president.
“Whoever wants to be president and those working for him have to work very hard. In fact, they will need more prayers as they are consulting. With all these efforts, God has the final say on who becomes president.
“Chief MKO Abiola who was a Muslim was elected along with his vice, a Muslim.
“We only pray that if Tinubu wins, it won’t turn out to be like that of late Chief MKO Abiola. I don’t see anything wrong with a Muslim-Muslim ticket because I don’t intervene in religious matters. Muslim and Christians are from the same father. Some people are following Ismail while some are following Isaac, who are siblings. So, what is now my own to be fighting for one among them. Even I don’t have time to fight with traditionalists.
“It is only God that knows his servants, so why must we fight over religion? All religion including traditonal religion preach love and good characters. It is only politicians that usually cause crisis with religion. If not for the crisis of killing in some parts of the country, we don’t usually think about the kind of religion someone is doing. But when gunmen started attacking churches and kidnapping clerics in Christendom, people started doubting their fellow brothers who belongs to another religion. They are the cause of all these things. But God will intervene and make Nigeria peaceful again,” Ladoja said.
