Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is facing calls to reconsider its strategy for the 2027 elections. Public affairs analyst and president of the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum (NENF), Dominic Alancha, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC to abandon the idea of fielding a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
According to Alancha, Nigeria is currently grappling with pressing issues such as hunger, insecurity, and sectarian violence, which are testing the country’s cohesion. In a statement issued in Abuja, he warned that a Muslim-Muslim ticket could deepen existing divides and undermine national unity.
The analyst pointed to the fallout from the 2023 elections, when President Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket sparked unprecedented religious tensions and alienated millions of Christians. The move resulted in significant losses for the APC, with over 80 percent of Northern Christians rejecting the party. The rejection led to the loss of key states, including Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Furthermore, Alancha noted that many Christian allies within the APC defected from the party, warning of catastrophic consequences for Nigeria’s fragile unity. The analyst argued that the ruling party must learn from its past mistakes and adopt a more inclusive approach to avoid further exacerbating the country’s sectarian divisions.
President Tinubu and his vice president, Kashim Shettima, both Muslims, secured the presidential election in 2023 despite the controversy surrounding their ticket. However, the APC’s decision to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket again in 2027 could have far-reaching consequences for the party’s electoral prospects.
With the country still reeling from the aftermath of the 2023 elections, the APC’s strategy for the 2027 polls is likely to come under intense scrutiny. As the party navigates the complex web of Nigeria’s ethnic and religious politics, it remains to be seen whether it will heed the warnings of critics like Alancha and adopt a more inclusive approach to its ticket selection.
