Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has joined the growing chorus of voices calling on President Bola Tinubu to rethink the Muslim-Muslim ticket as he prepares for the 2027 election.
Dogara, a Christian from the North, spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme amid intense speculation that Vice-President Kashim Shettima may be replaced on the APC ticket.
He urged the president to base decisions on justice and national cohesion rather than fear or political pressure.
“Whatever we are doing shouldn’t be because we are afraid of anybody breathing down our necks; it should be because it is the right thing to do,” Dogara said.
He argued that the debate around power sharing should reflect Nigeria’s religious diversity, insisting that any arrangement should be based on fairness and inclusiveness.
“If we are talking about rotational presidency, there is nothing stopping us from having that discussion as well, because you are not just talking about northern Christians but about the Christian faith as a whole,” he said.
Dogara also suggested that religious balance should not be determined by region but by faith representation, noting that both Muslims and Christians should represent their communities regardless of where they come from.
“If we’re going to do anything along those lines, it shouldn’t be that we are scared, but because… we believe that God requires of us to do justice,” he said.
Dogara’s comments come as the Muslim-Muslim ticket debate has widened beyond the party, with several APC groups and leaders expressing differing views.
Minister of Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa has warned that dropping a Northern Muslim from the ticket could weaken the APC’s chances in 2027. She argued that the party’s success depends on the unity of the North and that sidelining Northern Muslims could provoke a backlash.
The debate has also played out across APC structures. In the North-East, a stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe last year collapsed into chaos when the national vice chairman endorsed Tinubu without mentioning Shettima, reinforcing fears that the vice-president was being sidelined.
APC youth groups in the region have since rejected the speculation, describing it as “dangerous and divisive.”
Kabiru Garba Kobi, chairman of the APC Youth Parliament in the North-East, warned that replacing Shettima could cost Tinubu significant support in the zone.
Yet, some Christian leaders argue that retaining the Muslim-Muslim ticket would deepen exclusion.
“Shettima is a Muslim, the President is a Muslim. Is that not complete genocide to Christians in the political world?” asked Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, Regional Leader of the Church of Christ in Nations, in an interview on Arise TV.
In the North-Central, the APC Forum has taken a cautious stance, rejecting calls to drop Shettima while acknowledging Christian concerns. In a statement signed by chairman Saleh Zazzaga, the group said the Muslim-Muslim ticket “gave us victory in 2023” and warned that changing it would be a “grievous political miscalculation.”
The forum argued that replacing Shettima would not automatically win new votes, noting that many Christian minorities in the North voted for Peter Obi in 2023 and could do so again regardless of the vice-presidential candidate.
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