Shettima: Much ado about religion, By Temitope Ajayi

The hullabaloo over the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is becoming more jaded and hollow every passing day.

Without a doubt, it is becoming clearer that some leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in cahoot with some politicians, who had fancied their chances as a likely VP pick, are not only losing steam in their battle against Shettima’s choice, but also losing face amongst discerning Nigerians.

A critical dissection of the voting pattern in Nigeria clearly attests to the fact that religious consideration hardly play any significant role. Religionising what is simply a smart political decision is at best self-serving.

Let’s take the case of the current Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and his immediate predecessor, Babachir Lawal as a case study. These gentlemen are Christians and Pastors to boot. They also both come from Adamawa State and what more, from the same local government.

Their appointments was an unprecedented big plus for the minority Christians in the North, thanks to President Muhammadu Buhari. But what was the duo’s electoral impact in the victories of President Buhari in the 2015 and 2019 elections? Absolutely below average!

In 2015, the Christian population in Adamawa voted for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. One could explain this away, as the election was intensely driven by a high voltage of religious sentiments.

In appointing his first SGF, Babachir Lawal in 2015, Buhari picked a Christian from the part of Adamawa that didn’t vote for him to prove that he had nothing against Northern Christians.

Following Babachir’s removal over allegations of corruption, Buhari again appointed another Christian, Boss Mustapha from the same Hong local government in Adamawa as replacement. Needless to stress that this same local government largely dominated by Christians, had long complained of marginalisation and lack of political representation at the highest level in the State and at the federal level for many decades.

Buhari’s good gesture, however, counted for nothing at the 2019 elections. He not only lost to his major rival, PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, his party, the APC was trounced down the line in a State that produced two SGFs within a period of four years! If that election results were not a testament of Babachir’s and Mustapha’s electoral value, what then is?

It is one thing for APC to lose the State on aggregate, but what can’t be explained, is how a party that gave the most important Federal cabinet position to Christian minority in Adamawa, unexplainably lost among Christian voters.

Some may ask cynically what is the big deal about the SGF position. It is, indeed, a big deal. In terms of influence and power of political patronage, the SGF is the most powerful federal cabinet position.

And in terms of the order of precedence and protocol, the SGF ranks Number 3 after the Vice President in executive arm of Government. When it comes down to functions and constitutional role, the office of the SGF is where the real action is.

So, what is the crux of this post?

The takeaway is that religion is not so much a factor in the electoral choices for most Nigerians the way PFN and CAN would want us to believe.
If it were to be so, the people of Hong local government should have voted for Buhari, who gave two of their sons a federal position they never had.

One fact is indisputable: religion will not decide who Nigerians would elect as President in 2023. If anything, it is the vision and programmes each of the candidates sell to the people that would determine their success or otherwise at the polls.