The Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) has urged Nigerians to ensure that the same faith ticket does not emerge for the 2023 general elections, regardless of ethno-religious differences.
The elders noted that if the same faith is not rendered useless in 2023, it may endure and further divide the people in subsequent elections in the country.
In his welcome address yesterday at the 2022 annual congress of the forum, the National Chairman of NOSCEF, Ejoga Inalegwu, said: “It is our responsibility as Christians in the North to kill the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.”
The theme of the congress was “Politics Today: Which Way for Northern Christians?
Inalegwu also charged President Muhammadu Buhari with demonstrating national unity by appointing a Christian of Katsina State origin to a national position.
“We came into office when the attacks on Christians in the North and insecurity were at the peak and have witnessed further escalation of the deliberate attempt on the part of the governments to increasingly marginalize Christians in public appointments, economic patronage, political and social space.
“Unpatriotic politicians will use any formula they can apply to win an election, whether it hurts or not and promise to placate as APC is doing after all the pleas. They will discard any formula that makes them lose an election in the future.
“Make the single faith ticket unattractive for the future by killing it now or rendering yourselves forever an irrelevant commodity in the election equation for the future.
“We enjoin all lovers of Nigeria across faith to reject the single faith ticket to frustrate politics of exclusion that is mindful of regional balance, but insensitive to faith inclusion.
“Insecurity in Kaduna has taken its toll on the attendance at the congress; we trust that at our next congress, the insecurity would have been overcome,” Inalegwu said.
