Many Christian stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have threatened to defect to the People’s Democratic party (PDP) should Bola Tinubu opt for El-Rufai or another muslim running mate for the forthcoming general elections TheNewsGuru.com can confirm.
Kaduna state govenor Nasir El-Rufai is being tipped as one of the favourite for the vice presidency position in the APC.
Meanwhile some party topshots who are christians have threatened to leave if a Muslim-Muslim ticket is considered.
This latest development was made known by an insider in the party amid the battle to select a northerner as running mate.
He stated that the Christian leadership in Nigeria and the adherents do not want the Kaduna helmsman in the presidency.
A top reason for the opposition to his candidature is the Southern Kaduna crises. Recurring invasions by gunmen have resulted in the death of hundreds of people, mainly Christians.
El-Rufai has been long accused of not doing enough to secure the area despite the routine unjust murder of locals.
For years, several communities have been attacked, leaving horrific tales of massacres that claimed the lives of men, women, children and the aged.
Yet, there are no regular arrests and prosecution of the culprits engaging in what some believe is a “religious war”.
Last week, more than 30 people were killed in four communities – Maikori, Dogo Noma, Ungwan Sarki and Sabo Gida – within Kajuru Local Government Area.
The source stressed that the heinous crimes perpetrated in Southern Kaduna have put El-Rufai “in a very bad light”.
“In APC, many Christian chieftains don’t want El-Rufai. If that happens, they’ll be furious and will react by defecting or returning to the PDP”, he declared.
The Independent electoral commission INEC expects all political parties to submit the names of their running mate by the end of this week to meet up with the June 17 deadline it for submission of names..