Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), on Tuesday, carpeted Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State for defending the same faith ticket of his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the joint ticket of former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, and ex-governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima is grossly an affront to the democracy and an insult to the 1999 constitution of the Federation which explicitly mandates inclusion and federal character principle to uphold fairness, equity, and justice.

The group urged Nigerians to reject religious chauvinists in the February 25 presidential election this Saturday with the power of their Permanent Voter Cards, adding that Nigerians, especially Christians have suffered enough under the current regime of President Muhammadu Buhari with gross religious infringement.

HURIWA asked that if Christians can be so killed and abducted for ransom in their thousands under a regime of a Muslim-Christian, what would happen if the regime turn to a Muslim-Muslim ticket?

Recall that Umahi recently faulted opponents of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC and advised Nigerians not to be deceived by the Muslim/Muslim ticket because God is for Christians and Muslims.

However, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “It is sad and very disappointing that Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State and his co-travelers in the ruling APC see nothing devilish and divisive in the same-faith ticket of their party as the nation enters the election week for the presidential poll.

“The talks about God is neither a Muslim nor a Christian is just untenable because APCs Muslim-Muslim ticket is everything the Nigerian constitution is against. Section 14 (1) of the grundnurm says, ‘The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice’. Section 14 (3) says, ‘The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies’.

“Sub-section 4 of Section 14 also says, ‘The composition of the government of a State, a Local Government council, or any of the agencies of such Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the peoples of the Federation.”

“Notably, Section 223 (1) (b) of the Constitution says the constitution and rules of a political party shall ensure that the members of the executive committee or other governing body of the political party reflect the federal character of Nigeria while sub-section 2(b) says the federal character is reflected only if the members belong to different states.

“Umahi should reread the constitution and history because the writers of the constitution deliberately made provisions for federal character to promote national unity, social justice, national loyalty and sense of belonging among all Nigerians.

“The APC same faith ticket is capable of disuniting Nigerians more than ever before and should be rejected at the polls by all conscientious citizens through their PVCs.”

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