Religion will play a huge role in the 2027 presidential election as the world continues to watch events unfold in Nigeria, a plural society of diverse ethnic nationalities and multifarious interest groups presently grappling with imbalance.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must find a way to wriggle himself out of the Muslim/Muslim ticket that the All Progressives Congress (APC) served the people in 2023. That strange arrangement, possibly explains the rise in incidents of religious intolerance.

There will be tension as long as one religion tries to Lord itself over others. And it is inconceivable that some politicians try to sell the falsehood that there are more Muslims than Christians in the country. This brazen show of indifference will continue to shake the foundation of unity.

In the first Republic, there was a fair representation. President Nnamdi Azikiwe, a Christian, worked together with Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a Muslim. That beginning was maintained under democratic regimes, until 2023 when two Muslims emerged as President and Vice President.

In 1964, a year after Nigeria became a Republic, of the four Premiers, three were Christians. Dr. Michael Okpara of the Eastern Region, Chief Samuel Akintola of the West and Dr. Dennis Osadebe of the Mid – West were sworn in with the Bible. Their Northern counterpart, Ahmadu Bello, was a Muslim.

The first military Head of State, Gen. Johnson Aguiyi – Ironsi, a Southern Christian, spent his early years in the North. His successor, Yakubu Gowon, a Northerner, was a Christian. The first Muslim Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, assumed office, in 1975,  fifteen years after independence.

Strangely, all the Military dictators after Murtala, hailed from the North and during the Ibrahim Babangida Presidency, attempts were made to heat up the polity by dragging the country to the Islamic world without the knowledge of the Chief of General Staff, Ebitu Ukiwe, a Christian.

During the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari did not behave like the typical Nigerian Muslim politician. He worked harmoniously with Vice President Alex Ekwueme, a Southern Christian. Under Shagari, there were just two Muslim Service Chiefs, Mohammed Wushishi and Adamu Suleiman.

Shagari’s first core Service Chiefs, Alani Akinrinade, Michael Adelanwa and John Yisa Doko, were Christians. When Akinrinade was promoted from Chief of Army Staff to Chief of Defence Staff, his replacement, Gibson Jalo, was a Christian. And when Adamu Suleiman was moved as Inspector General of Police, he was succeeded by Sunday Adewusi, a Christian.

The man who should have taken a fellow Muslim as Vice President, was smart enough to avoid the trap. Muhammadu Buhari, seen as a fundamentalist,  rather went for Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a firebrand Pastor.

It therefore came as a shock, that Tinubu, the man who mentored Osinbajo politically and is married to a Christian Pastor of the Redeemed Church, would go for a Muslim/ Muslim ticket. What Buhari did as a dictator, Tinubu accomplished as a democrat.

As a soldier, Buhari cared less about Christians and balance. He chose a fellow Fulani and Muslim  Northerner, Babatunde Idiagbon, as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. Ironsi did the same in 1966, when Babafemi Ogundipe, emerged as Number Two.

Those were contraptions. The Fourth Republic sailed swiftly, until 2023. Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo ran with Atiku Abubakar. After them came Umaru Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan which later became Jonathan /Namadi Sambo. Buhari and Osinbajo followed.

Tinubu, a man well versed in politics, changed the equation with imbalance. Going for Kashim Shettima, a Muslim has not helped the unity of the country. We are not surprised that there have been cries of Christian Genocide across the Atlantic. To address this perception is to do away with this leadership anomaly in 2027.

Only Tinubu knows why he went for this imbalance. The same man has tried to be fair in Lagos. He went for Christian Deputy governors. His successor, Babatunde Fashola, ran with a Christian deputy, Sarah Sosan, in 2007. 

When Fashola, a Muslim, left the stage, a Christian, Akinwumi Ambode, stepped in. Fashola’s wife, Abimbola, is a Christian. Ambode was denied a second term but Tinubu ensured balance by bringing  another Christian, Babajide Sanwo – Olu.

The puzzle is, why Tinubu, a man who played fair in Lagos failed to replicate that as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The result is what is staring everyone in the face. This Muslim/ Muslim ticket could be likened to Christian Genocide even if Abuja does not want to believe it.

For the APC to think of spending more time at the Villa, there must be a change at the top. Muslims in Nigeria are not in the majority, whoever turns fact upside down does not believe in national unity. There is nothing like being politically correct anymore.

This Muslim/ Muslim ticket has further divided the country. Perhaps, it explains the influx of new Islamic Terror groups. Some disgruntled politicians have been spreading the narrative of Nigeria as a core Muslim nation. If there is one man who should throw away this policy, it is the President 

Maintaining religious and geographical balance is one ingredient necessary for peace in the polity. The APC failed to keep to this rule in 2023. It must not work in 2027. The other limping parties, will bounce back should the mistake of 2023 repeat itself.