Precious Oham
…says, numbers win elections
A former Senator who represented Ekiti North in the Senate in 2007, Senator Ayo Arise, has thrown his weight behind the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC Presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
Senator Arise disclosed this over the weekend, in an interview with Vanguard, described the duo of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as competent to lead the country despite being Muslims.
He went further to say that the country is desirous of leaders who can salvage the situation and not necessary placing premium on religion as basis for electing leaders.
While appealing to Christians to accept the candidacy of the APC Presidential hopeful for the progress of the nation, he noted that Tinubu will introduce State Police towards curbing the issues of insecurity.
His words: “The Muslim-Muslim ticket is a decision that cannot be said to be perfect as there were situations for the Muslim-Christian ticket which ordinarily could have been ideal if not for the fact that the candidate happens to be from the South-West.”
“If the candidate had been a Christian, it would have been easier to pick a Muslim northerner. But since things happened the way it has happened, it is easier for a northern candidate who is a Muslim to pick a Christian southerner.”
“That would have been the most reasonable thing to do but now that we have the reverse as the case, the condition on the ground is very clear that the northern population, may be 60, 70 percent are Muslims and we are talking of numbers if you are to win elections.”
“I think it is a major issue that we continue to appeal to the Christian community that this is not a slight. So, I think reasonably, in terms of calculation and strategy, the candidate of APC considered all that before coming up with Muslim-Muslim ticket.”
“I read a few things that Tinubu said he would do and the first one, in terms of tackling insecurity, is the fact that he would automatically start the process of having state police.”