By Emmanuel Aziken

A picture of the increasingly vicious battle within the Northern Christian community of Nigeria over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC emerged this week in the vicious media war between Governor Simon Lalong and former Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

Incidentally, both are chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Lalong is the director-general, of the Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Organisation, which makes him the campaign manager. He was primarily chosen for the role because he appeared to be the only prominent Northern Christian with visibility to give a Christian balance in pushing for the Muslim-Muslim APC ticket in Northern Nigeria.

However, few believe that Lalong is managing the campaign as the role of organizer in chief appears to be the powerful secretary of the Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, Hon James Faleke, Tinubu’s alter ego.

Faleke came handily available for the position given his leading role in pushing the Tinubu presidential aspiration. When many Tinubu progenies such as Yemi Osinbajo, Rauf Aregbesola, Babatunde Fashola among many others were either passive or hostile to their Oga taking his turn, the Kogi born Faleke appeared not to give up.

Sources say he hired buildings, mobilized NGOs, and pushed everywhere for Tinubu.

It was as such not shocking that when it came to appointing Tinubu’s man to overlook his interests in the campaign council that the candidate could not find a more loyal disciple than Faleke. Indeed, the only rival was Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, but being a Muslim and from Lagos, the scale was easily tipped towards Faleke.

Remarkably, the appointment of Faleke, a Northern Christian as the secretary of the PCC has made it that two Christians are in pole position to shepherd the attainment of what could be the first Muslim-Muslim presidency in the history of democratic rule in Nigeria.

Faleke’s exuberance and relative inexperience, according to some insiders within the Tinubu family, may have caused the eruption that disrupted the inauguration of the PCC last Wednesday. However, on account of his loyalty, no one is blaming him.

That Faleke was able to issue a list that did not accommodate the interest of many Northern governors despite the fact that Lalong, the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum is the PCC chairman, reflects the reality that the Plateau governor is apparently a figure head.

One source told your correspondent that the Plateau governor had threatened to resign his position over the issue and other alleged acts of defiance against him.

A picture of how Lalong may languish was presented in a viral video showing how he was received when he returned to Jos after his appointment as the director-general of the PCC.

Like a scene from a home video, many who came as well-wishers in the welcome party at the airport and had been hailing the governor suddenly raised banners of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, shouting Obideint! Obidient!!

Except the governor is able to convince that the portrayal of the Obideints in the welcome party was actually a doctored video, he would have much explaining to do on his capacity to Marshall Tinubu to victory.

The difficulties of the governor were all the more made more difficult last Wednesday when Peter Obi staged his first open campaign of the election season with a massive turnout in Jos.

A former local government chairman appointed by Lalong who has since defected to Labour Party told this correspondent that the rally underpinned the claim that the governor has lost relevance on the Plateau.

That assertion has set the background for the tiff with Dogara.

Willy-nilly, the undercurrents of the fight between Lalong and Dogara is shadowed by the conflict between both men over the Muslim-Muslim ticket of their party. That issue came was exacerbated this week when Yakubu Datti, chief of staff to Lalong as campaign DG slammed the former speaker over his continued opposition to the ticket.

Datti had slammed Dogara for supposedly bellyaching that the running mate slot did not come his way. Dogara, however, did not see the assertions from Datti as his own, alleging him to be the lapdog of Governor Lalong.

Dogara in a response by his media aide, Turaki Hassan has also described the governor to be the lapdog of other masters pushing the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

The conflict within the Northern Christian community has been fired by what many claim as the marginalization of that section of the polity under the Buhari APC administration as reflected in the fact that only two of them were deemed fit enough for ministerial appointments out of the more than 23 ministers from Northern Nigeria. The insensitivity of the APC administration is seen in the FCT where two Northern Muslims hold forth as ministers.

This legacy from the Buhari administration that is seen in his official approval of the Muslim-Muslim ticket has sufficiently aroused consciousness that has swept away the mantra of One North. It has brought to the fore the sizeable influence of the Christian vote in the North.

Lalong has become the APC’s vessel to stop the revolt. Dogara despite being a chieftain of the APC is with Babachir Lawal, the former Tinubu advocate, working to upturn what they see as a Muslim hegemony.

It is unfortunate that the country has come to this stage where religious belief has become a political factor. Even more is the fact that Tinubu who is the purveyor of the Muslim-Muslim ticket is regarded as one of the more liberal political actors in the land.