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IN SHORT : Religion plays a major role in Nigerian politics. But a claim that the governing APC party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections railed against a same faith ticket in 2015, and then in 2022 turned around and chose such a ticket, is an embellishment on what he actually said. A screenshot doing the rounds on Facebook quotes Bola Tinubu , presidential candidate of Nigeria’s governing All Progressives Congress (APC), as saying he would never back a same faith ticket. It shows a photo of Tinubu and reads: In 2015, I gave Osinbajo my right because Muslim-Muslim ticket will destabilise Nigeria. God will destroy me and my family any day I support same faith. Nigerians are set to vote in presidential elections in February 2023 . The country’s north is largely Muslim and the south largely Christian. Religion is a major factor in its politics. A same faith ticket in Nigerian presidential elections means a party’s candidates for president and vice president (or running mate) are either both Muslim or both Christian. Current president Muhammadu Buhari, first elected in 2015, is Muslim. His deputy, Yemi Osinbajo , is Christian. Tinubu, a Muslim, bagged the APC ticket in June 2022 . He was expected to pick a Christian running mate, but controversially opted for Kashim Shettima , also a Muslim. The screenshot suggests that Tinubu can’t be trusted, because he seems to have flip-flopped in his stance against a same faith presidency. But did Tinubu really say Nigeria would be destabilised if it were governed by a president and vice president who were both Muslim? Additional – false – words added to quote An online search using the phrase I gave Osinbajo my right reveals that the first part of the quote was widely reported by several mainstream media news outlets . But the second part – about the destabilisation of the country and the sentence God will destroy me and my family any day I support same faith – is not in any of the reports. Another source is a June 2022 video of Tinubu addressing the APC leadership in Abeokuta , southwest Nigeria . The context is that Tinubu said he was asked to nominate three people for the vice presidency. Osinbajo was third on his list. I was asked to submit three names, Yemi Cardozo, Wale Edun and Yemi Osinbajo. But I insisted on submitting only one name because I am the one that wanted to surrender my right. Tinubu did say he spoke against a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015. But he did not say that it would destabilise Nigeria, or that his family would be destroyed should such a ticket emerge. Oluremi Tinubu, the candidate’s wife, was also falsely quoted recently as saying Tinubu promised to ensure a Christian-Christian presidency should he win the election, and had served two terms.
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