By Emmanuel Akinwale
As the controversial 2023 elections has come and gone but the same can’t be said about the litigations that followed suit, let’s disert the ruling party’s vice-presidential choice.
That which has been the centripetal force and centre of attraction is that of the APC(The All Progressive Congress) where Chief Bola Ahmed Tinnubu, an Islamised Yoruba man and the presidential candidate of the APC, selected his running mate Kaseem Shettima, an Islamised northerner.
Forbye the outlandishness of this decision, it is unprecedented that the President of Nigeria and his vice would be of the same religious affiliation especially if the pendulum of the 2023 presidential election were to swing in their favour.
To clarify this, let us rewind the clock shaft of the history of Nigeria. In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo is a Christian whilst his deputy, Atiku Abubakar is a muslim(1999-2007). Umaru Musa Yar’adua a Muslim, has a Christened Vice-President in Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(2007-2010). In 2010-2011 when Jonathan served as the Locum Tenens of the deceased Umaru Yar’adua, he selected an Islamised Northerner, in Arch. Nnamdi Sambo. The Jonathan-Sambo, the marriage eventually proceeded for another four(4) years(2011-2015). In 2015 when the incumbent Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari, an Islamised Northerner, has a christened Yoruba man, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as his deputy.
From the foregoing, it is quite clear, that the president and his vice-president having a heterogeneous religious sentiment, has been par for the course, with the exception of Abiola-Kingibe in 1993, which could not be considered valid owing to the annulment of the election.
However, there are five(5) topmost factors to be considered in choosing the vice-presidential running mate, with respect to balancing the federal structure of Nigeria., by ensuring the federal character and quota system is proportionate.
The first consideration is the Geo-political and ethnic consideration This consideration borders around the Northern and Southern geopolitical divide. It has always been the norm that if the presidential candidate originated from the south, the vice-presidential candidate is expected to be of northern origin and vice versa.
Another essential consideration is the Religious Consideration Though unwritten in the constitution, it is believed that the President and the vice-presidential candidate should be of heterogeneous religious sentiment.
Consideration is the intra-party group interest which is the party’s internal power dynamics is another factor together with factions may play an essential role in the decision-making of choosing the vice-presidential candidate.
Another is the ability of the vice president to raise money to prosecute the election because the presidential elections are usually capital intensive and embarrass des richesse of wealth is usually considered essential in conducting election campaigns.
The ability of the vice-president to win votes for the presidential election is another important factor to consider. This is considered by looking at the political structures of the VP candidates or their popularity and electability. It is obvious, that if Nigeria is to transition into full throttle and the advanced form of democracy, relatively all religious and ethnic interests are to be represented at the federal level. This is in line with Stuart Mill’s “Representative Government” where he stated that ‘there should be no marked inequality of strength among contracting interests and states’. If that is anything to go by, it is diaphanous that the scale of equity would be tilted in favour of a certain sect; the result of such actions could lead to a dysfunctional political ssystem.
Furthermore, It is not covert, that the clamour of the minority for equity in power distribution is as loud as the carillon. The bypassing of a religious sect at the topmost level of power could further exacerbate the already frightening instability in administration, especially in a country like Nigeria where there are lots of religious extremists and devout followers of their religious cult. This could lead to the rebirth of the historical allusion of the “1789 French revolution” in Africa. Especially when, the majority interest(Religious sentiments) consummates with the minority interest(the clamour for breakaway) this correlates with the French revolution where the lower clergy(belonging to the first estate), provincial noble(belonging to the second estate) and the third estate consisting of the bourgeoisie(lawyers, doctors…) and the lower class(farmers, cobblers) all allied to revolt against the monarch(King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette), the higher clergy and the court nobles for using the state as the instrument to serve their interest rather than the interest of the whole.
From the foregoing, it is quite clear that the slightest misrepresentation of interest could degenerate into anarchy and the renowned maxim, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” could facilitate the alliance between the disgruntled forces whose interests have been bypassed.
Although, it is unwritten in the constitution of Nigeria that the Presidential candidate and his running mate must have diverse religious sentiments. Nonetheless, the uproar and the deplorable state of the nation, and the homogeneous religious sentiment may not be the aspirin that injects peace into the turbulent streamlining of violence in a multi-diverse state, called Nigeria especially if Nigeria is to become a nation-state where the sense of nationalism would be restored.
According to Dankwart Rustow, there are both SUBJECTIVE and OBJECTIVE dimensions(common culture, common history) of nationhood. One of the Subjective dimensions is SPIRITUAL SENTIMENT, he stated further, that there may be considerable diversity in the objective dimension so long as there is considerable homogeneity in the subjective dimension. This starts from the top to the bottom which means leadership representation at the federal level must resonate with the multi-diverse dimension of the state. This is the reason why countries like the USA, and SWITZERLAND reiterate the looping of this practice to ensure national solidarity despite their multi-diversity and the reason why Muslim-Christian and Christian-Muslim tickets have pre-dominantly been par for the course.
