.

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

Hundreds of placard-carrying protesters, who claimed to be progressive youths from the six North-Central states and the FCT, on Friday, protested in Abuja against the insistence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field Senator Kashim Shettima as its vice-presidential candidate of the party come 2023.

The street demonstrators also bore banners with the inscription ‘Shettima Must Go’ and marched from the Unity Fountain Arena, Maitama, to the State House Aso Villa, demanding that the former Borno governor to quit the presidential ticket for a Christian.

The APC and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had faced scathing criticisms from various groups and individuals over the choice of Shettima as running mate because they duo are Muslims.

Briefing journalists during the protest, the leader of the protestors, Comrade Musa Attah, explained that the rejection of the same faith ticket should not be seen as a mere Christian objection.

According to him, “It is a protest by every Nigerian in favour of democracy which guarantees freedom of choice, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship.

“Nigeria is a secular state. Our forefathers were aware of this even before they designed the Constitution. And in making these choices, we must be sensitive to the sensibilities of the people. It shouldn’t be lorded over the people, whom the power belongs to.

“A Muslim-Muslim presidency would mean a sectional national ideology to replace the liberty upon which Nigeria was established as a country.

“With Shettima, the APC is implying that Christians in the North are of no consequence in the scheme of things.

“We have a huge Christian population in the North-East and North-West. In the North-Central, the Christians are dominant. This is why Shettima must vacate this position.

“It is on this note that we, the North Central Progressives Youths, are appealing to President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu to prevail on Shettima to do the needful. They should look beyond politics and see the bigger picture.

“Christians need a sense of belonging in the APC, they must be assured that the country is theirs too. But more importantly, picking a Christian as running mate would re-energise and instigate Nigerian’s sense of nationalism towards building a true nationhood and restoring her diminished national and political ethos of public service for the accelerated socio-economic and infrastructural development of the country.”