Tinubu-and-Shettima
One aspect of Nigeria’s constitution that is unwritten, but has somehow been strictly adhered to over the years since independence, has been the rotation of the Presidency between the North and the South.
Even the military, in their haphazard way of doing things, to some extent and in some aspects, respected this unwritten constitution. General Gowon, when he became President, was assisted by Admiral Wey. After General Gowon, then came General Murtala Mohammed, who was assisted by Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, which served as the Vice-President. After Murtala, Olusegun Obasanjo took over and was assisted by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
When government was finally handed over to civilians, Alhaji Shehu Shagari chose Alex Ekwueme, a Christian, as his running mate from the East, while Shagari came from the North. Although there have been few aberrations, such aberrations were hardly noticed by Nigerians.
For instance, when General Muhammadu Buhari took over in 1984, his second in command was Major General Tunde Idiagbon, also a Muslim, but it was hardly noticed that he was neither a Muslim nor from the northern part of the country just like Buhari. On the civilian side, MKO Abiola, a Muslim from the South-West, chose Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, a Muslim from the North, as running mate. This time, Nigerians gave a deaf ear to the matter because they would do anything for the military to hand over power back to the civilians.
Succession has continued this way, and Nigerians were taken by surprise by yet another aberration for which they did not see strong reasons when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu chose Sen. Kashim Shettima, a Muslim from Borno, as his running mate.
Take for instance, the other political parties that ran in the same elections with the APC chose Christian–Muslim tickets. PDP, whose flag bearer was Alh. Abubakar Atiku, a northern Muslim, chose Governor Okowa, a southern Christian and former Governor of Delta State, while the Labour Party’s flag bearer, Peter Obi, a southern Christian, chose Ahmed Datti, a northern Muslim, as his running mate. From the final results of the 2023 presidential elections, PDP obtained 6,984,520 votes, while LP obtained 6,101,533 votes. Both combined to a total of 13,086,053 votes against APC, which obtained 8,794,726 votes. In light of these results, the voting was based neither on a Muslim–Muslim ticket nor a Christian–Muslim ticket, but on party loyalty. In Benue, where I come from and which is 99% predominantly Christian, voted overwhelmingly for a Muslim–Muslim ticket.
I think it will be interesting to examine the population of the two faiths in the first place before we go on with this argument. According to surveys of 2020 by Pew, there are about 119 million Muslims and 92 million Christians. Then the question is: how does one arrive at such figures?
To become a Muslim, all that is required is to proclaim Islam. But it is different for Christianity. For instance, in the Tekan group to which I belong, you are not a Christian unless you are baptized. Not every churchgoer is baptized, and such a person is not listed in the church register. You can only be listed in the register if you are baptized. I believe the same is followed by other denominations such as the Anglican Church, Catholic Church, and Methodist Church. So, let us say that at least a quarter of those who profess to being of the Christian faith in Nigeria are not listed as Christians. One would therefore think that the survey by Pew is not accurate.
The issue of adhering to the Muslim–Christian aspect of our unwritten constitution is a matter of morality rather than faith. The choice should also be based on the ability of the flag bearer to deliver substantial votes to their party. For instance, a candidate—no matter how strong a Muslim or Christian they are—if he or she does not command the respect and political following of the people, does not do any good to his or her party by choosing him or her on sentiments of faith.
The political parties should have a hand in choosing the running mate, and not just the flag bearer and a few people. With that, a more rational decision would be arrived at in choosing the running mate for the president, based on delivery of votes and popularity of such a running mate.
In conclusion, the debate on the Muslim–Muslim presidential ticket goes far beyond the boundaries of faith. It speaks to our collective conscience as a nation, to the unwritten agreements that have held our fragile union together, and to the moral expectations Nigerians have come to associate with leadership. No constitution can capture every nuance of our diversity, and no legal document can legislate trust. What sustains Nigeria are those delicate balances, those silent understandings, and the respect for plurality that our leaders have, for decades, tried to honour.
When these balances are ignored, the nation feels it—emotionally, politically, and psychologically. Leadership, especially at the highest level, must therefore reflect not only competence but also sensitivity to the nation’s composition and its historical realities. A ticket that disregards these considerations risks widening cracks that already threaten our cohesion.
- Simon Shango, MFR, writes from Abuja.
