Dogara advised Christians to ensure they do not waste their votes during the 2023 general elections, saying God frowns at such
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has once again said that the adoption of the same-faith presidential ticket by All Progressives Congress (APC) can only bring the party defeat in 2023.
Dogara made this known, during his keynote address at a summit, “Meet The Church,” organised by Nigeria National Christian Coalition, (NNCC) with the theme “The Role of the Church in Nation-Building.”
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Slamming APC’s insistence on fielding two Muslims as their party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates, the former lawmaker said: “In their convoluted posturing, they have placed state-building ahead of nation-building; a task never before achieved in history and we need no seer to tell us that such endeavour is guaranteed to end in spectacular failure. No divided people have ever built any civilisation.
“I am so elated that today’s church in Nigeria has shaken off the beast of complacency of the past into fire by speaking up and resisting measures adopted by some political platforms that will hamper nation building.
“In a manner that negated the fundamentals of nation-building, such as shared identity, values and visions, the APC adopted a same faith ticket in a country that has never attained nationhood.”
Dogara went on to chastise the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for failing to heed the warning by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Catholic Secretariat, ECWA and so many other Christian bodies not to field a same-faith ticket.
He added: “These warnings were not only ignored, but also dismissed in one fell swoop by the APC presidential candidate, who strangely believes he can build a strong, secure and viable nation-state without first forging a shared identity, vision and values for our people, thereby enabling us transit from citizens of a country into a nation of people with strong shared identity and values.
“To demonstrate that the church is right, it is not alone in condemning the same-faith ticket. Other prominent Islamic clerics and Muslim leaders have also spoken in the same light.
“It is a good omen that both Christian and Muslim elite are not complacent over this matter. To this end, it will be easy to generate the needed elite consensus that is key to nation-building. All nations are built by elite consensus, while all countries that failed in nation-building were destroyed by elite complacency.”
The ex-speaker went on to urge Christians to ensure they did not waste their votes in the 2023 general elections, saying God frowns at such.
“Every Christian knows that our God does not tolerate waste. It is unchristian for the church to waste anything given to us from above as we own nothing except what is given to us from above.
“I have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the church must not waste its votes or sow same on unproductive grounds.
“Every Christian must see his vote as talents given to him by God to trade with and as seeds that must not be wasted.”
Dogara was not the only speaker at the event, the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, represented by Senator Uche Ekwunife and the convener of NNCC, Apostle Titilope Oluwadare also spoke.
