Muslim-Muslim Ticket: Revisiting The Annals Of History?

Chidi Matthew Nwachukwu

It was the late Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, a former director general of the defunct National Security Organization (NSO), that said in 1992 that “the Muslim-Muslim ticket is impolitic and unwise.” He made the statement when asked by pressmen to give his perspective on the Abiola/Kingibe ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of 1992.

Shinkafi, though a devote Muslim, was not persuaded by the idea of fielding two same-faith (Muslim-Muslim) candidates in a presidential election by a political party as popular and accepted as the SDP, and in a country with strong heterogenous religious inclinations like Nigeria. He must have felt that such a decision was nothing short of robbing the Christians (or adherents of other faiths) of proper representation at the corridors of power, and that was also how many other considerate and clear-headed Muslims of that time saw it. To them, it was an ill-conceived idea that was sure to have both intended and unintended consequences.

And gradually, the Abiola/Kingibe ticket fought off all the resistances that stood in its way and gathered an overwhelming acceptance by the people, and even went on to clinch victory at the 1993 presidential polls.

It can be imagined that at that point, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola would have taunted all those who opposed his plans and faulted his political strategy. He probably would have beaten his chest and said to anyone who cared to listen, “I told you I can pull through with this plan, and here we are!” And all those who might have warned him against making such a move would probably have withdrawn into their shells to save their face from the bashing that was sure to follow. Their only sin which was “advising MKO against toeing the path of a Muslim-Muslim ticket” might have been considered as the most unpardonable offence at that time, and had to attract very harsh condemnations.

How could anyone advise the great MKO against taking a decision that was sure to give him exactly what he wanted? How does anyone try to talk the great Bashorun out of his well-tailored, well-calculated and well-perfected plans without sounding very foolish and witless? Was anyone wittier than the almighty Bashorun who created ways where there seemed to be none and pulled the most unimaginable political stunts that there ever were? It was very clear that all those who did not agree with Abiola on his Muslim-Muslim ticket were forced to eat the humble pie and take back their words after he went on to record a resounding victory at the polls.

They must have wondered why they didn’t or couldn’t see the bigger picture of all that was possible with Abiola’s magic wand, and probably blamed themselves for not being farsighted enough.

And Abiola and his partner, Babagana Kingibe, continued to forge ahead in what seemed like a seamless, hitch-free and smooth sail to ‘Eldorado,’ without sparing any thoughts for any unfavourable happenstances. They were so sure that their ascension to power would happen against all odds, and that no force in the planet could thwart that certainty. MKO was so engrossed with his political pursuits that he didn’t for once sit down to ponder on the possibility of a sabotage by the “green boys” who appeared willing to relinquish power only at face value rather than in true intents. He just carried on with what seemed like the same enthusiasm and excitement that a young maiden would normally feel after being proposed to by her man, and that attitude of his appeared to keep his fortunes soaring. It was all going as planned, and power was soon to rest on his laps.

The permutations went on, and the horse-trading, consultations and late-night meetings continued ad infinitum. What will be the result of the long wait for the declaration of Abiola as president? Could there possibly be a last-minute reversal of the plan to hand over power to a democratically-elected government? What did the green boys have up their sleeves? Could General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida be trusted to live up to his promise of relinquishing power to a civilian government?

These and many more were some of the questions that hung in the air following that eventful election of 1993. Even Abiola himself could have sworn that his friend, the Military President, would never disappoint him and the Nigerian people who voted for him. He must have retired to his mansion to rest and wait for the glorious morning of handover when he would be sworn in as the leader of a brand-new civilian government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The hopes were indeed high, and everyone waited with bated breath for the military government to make good their promises. The National Electoral Commission (NEC), as it was then called, had done its best to ensure that the elections were free, fair and credible, and there were no doubts that MKO had met all the requirements for being returned as the duly-elected president. His victory included winning in Kano State, the very home of Alhaji Bashir Tofa who was the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), and that, to his supporters and well-wishers, was the perfect indicator of his widespread acceptance and acceptability. It was an unprecedented happenstance, and such an occurrence, going by the views of Abiola’s followers, could never be tied to fate or luck, but to the Bashorun’s unsullied and unrestrained effort at winning the hearts and minds of everyone. Some of his admirers would have sworn that the Bashorun won the hearts of even “the friends of his foes.” It was that conclusive!

So, the long wait endured, and anxiety and tension became palpable in the air. Days ran into months and a whole year went by, and nothing was heard from the people who promised to hand over power to the winner of the election.

Abiola, upon becoming very restless and desperate, began to consult widely. He sought opinions from his advisers and allies on what next to do. He could not afford to be hoodwinked at this point in his political career and entire life. The thoughts of being jeered at and mocked by those who had never believed in his strategy made him even more restless, and with each passing day, became even more anxious and desperate.

Restlessness became his constant mien, and no kind of tea (the Bashorun loved tea a lot), no matter where it was brought from and how well-prepared it was, could calm his frayed nerves. What would he do to redeem such an important time in his life? Would he be acting desperately if he came out to declare himself as president? Would it be out of place to ignite a protest and carry his supporters and the electorate that voted for him along in his quest? What? Just what would he have to do to salvage the situation?

It was in the wake of his realizing that the Babangida government did not have any intentions of handing over power to him that he took the bold step to declare himself as president. He was subsequently arrested, and the rest like they say is history.

And in what appears to be a recurrence of history, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential standard-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a Muslim by religion, picked Alhaji Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno State and a Muslim too, as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election. Tinubu chose Shettima as running mate in 2022 ahead of the 2023 election in a manner that is reminiscent of Abiola’s picking of Kingibe as running mate in 1992 (some 30 years ago), ahead of the 1993 election. Apart from this historical coincidence, Shettima happens to hail from Borno State which incidentally is the home state of Kingibe, and they are both of the Kanuri extraction. The similarities between Tinubu’s circumstances and Abiola’s are very striking, but will the denouement of Tinubu’s pursuit also turn out to be like that of Abiola’s? This is one question that pundits cannot yet conclude on.

There are already over a million opinions on Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, and there are ‘interestingly’ those who have summarily consigned Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim arrangement to the same trash bin that they also did Abiola’s. They are just very vehement in their opinion that a Muslim-Muslim ticket will never succeed in a country like Nigeria. They believe that for anyone to emerge as president of the most populous Black nation of the world, they must curry an admixture of the supports of both the Muslims, Christians and adherents of all the other faiths that exist in Nigeria, and they are strongly opinionated in this regard despite knowing that the Abiola/Kingibe ticket did actually meander through the labyrinth of obstacles that stood in its way, but only came a cropper when the Babangida Junta reneged on its promise of ceding power to a civilian government.

As it stands now, Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket is already receiving a cornucopia of criticisms and backlash, and many public affairs analysts and opinion-holders have quickly concluded that it will not see the light of day as did Abiola’s, and that whatever jinxed the 1992 Muslim-Muslim ticket will also jinx this one. They strongly feel that there are mysterious angles to why a Muslim-Muslim ticket, or a Christian-Christian ticket, or any other “same-faith ticket” can never work in Nigeria. They are therefore certain that Tinubu’s attempt at repeating the ‘Abiola’s formula’ will only culminate in the same rueful denouement as Abiola’s.

There are those who choose to believe that the circumstances surrounding the two issues (Abiola’s and Tinubu’s) are not the same and for which reason the Tinubu/Shettima ticket will ‘never’ succeed. They claim that in the Abiola/Kingibe’s case, the odds of their winning that election were very high due to the fact that at the time the Babangida government gave out the impression that it wanted to hand over power to a civilian regime, Nigerians were already fed up with everything that the military stood for and were just willing to try out something new and different, irrespective of its configuration or composition.

This same school of thoughts is of the opinion that the Abiola persona was a larger-than-life figure that everyone at that time found congenial and trustworthy, and that there were no doubts about Abiola’s sincerity of purpose and willingness to serve the people. So, they try to juxtapose Tinubu with Abiola in a way as to comparatively analyze the two characters and prove that there is no basis for comparison between the great Bashorun and the Jagaban of Borgu.

They further argue that the Bashorun was a business mogul who acquired his stupendous wealth through shear hard work and consistency, unlike the Jagaban who latched onto state’s resources and built his empire. It is noteworthy that this argument has been found by many to be very credible.
Still looking at the reasons for which the 1992 SDP same faith ticket was widely accepted and a repeat of which may never be accepted again (the APC ticket of 2022), some political pundits have argued that a lot has changed between then and now, and that there is now more division and disharmony in the country than there ever was. They further argue that the people are today, more polarized (along religious and ethnic lines) than they ever were, and that the government of the day has a lot to do with this anomaly. They have blamed the Muhammadu Buhari government for some of its actions and inactions that have directly or indirectly pitched the citizens against themselves. This too, is an argument that many find very credible.

Then, there is even another stronger angle to this entire discourse, and it is the perception of the people about the All Progressives Congress, APC, as both a political party and a government. Nigerians have been languishing under what many will prefer to call “the disastrous and backward government of the APC,” a fact that cannot be refuted even by the APC itself. In spite of the poor management of the country under the Buhari-led government, Tinubu has promised on different occasions to continue from where Buhari will stop. What pundits are saying about this promise of Tinubu’s is that no right-thinking person would want to vote for anyone whose intention of coming to power is to perpetuate the disgusting and unpalatable legacy of the Buhari administration. But whether Tinubu agrees with their views or not, is not as important as whether their assertions are true or untrue.

Many of those who are opposed to a Tinubu presidency may not have been opposed to it if the Jagaban had simply opted for a Christian as his running mate. The bone of contention here is just his choice of a fellow Muslim as ticket-sharer. What is Tinubu trying to prove? Is he trying to say that he could not find a single Christian from the north who would run with him?

In addressing the above questions, Tinubu had said that it was on the basis of competence and dependability that he chose Shettima. But his response, rather than quell the pandemonium over his choice of the former Borno governor, stirred even more disaffection and dissatisfaction among his critics. For them, he had no justifiable reason for toeing the path of a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Then, there are those who feel that Tinubu should never be allowed to ascend the throne of governance since he already feels that the right to rule the country is his inheritance and cannot be denied him. They compare Tinubu’s claim on the soul of Nigeria to the claim a prince would have on the throne of his ancestors, and loathe him very much for being that over-ambitious. Even while they loathe him and wish for his quest to elude him, they still habour the fears that Tinubu might ultimately clinch the Golden Fleece, since it is in record that the Jagaban has never put his mind to any task and failed to accomplish it.
So, it is only a matter of time before the mystery hanging over Asiwaju’s choice of a fellow Muslim as running mate (in the same fashion as the late MKO Abiola) is demystified. In no time, all the arguments – whether in favour of or against Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket – will be either upheld or discredited. The 2023 election is surely going to be a tough one, but it will definitely throw up a winner.

Whether Nigerians will throw caution to the wind and institutionalize ‘same-faith ticket’ politics in 2023 is left for the future to decide.

But then, the 2023 presidential election will be the final decider of whether or not “a Muslim-Muslim ticket is unwise and impolitic” as was postulated by the late Dr. Umaru Shikaffi.

it is elections not crusade

The Gods forbid BAT tin to happen in this country again or allow a terrorist who hates a majority tribe in Nigeria to ascend the Rock.. I repeat the gods must not allow it.