Veteran Nigerian actor, Kenneth Okonkwo, has dumped the All Progressive Congress (APC), over the choice of it’s presidential candidate’s running mate despite the concerns that were raised concerning a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The actor made this known on his official Instagram page.
He stated that APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket would permanently destroy the political viability of Christians in the north of Nigeria if allowed to stand.
He added that he resigned his membership in the interest of equity, justice, fairness and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.
Mr Okonkwo, a convener of the Campaign for Equity and Justice in Nigeria, said he joined APC because of its constitutional vow to eliminate all forms of discrimination and social injustice in Nigeria.
He said: “These ideals are now alien to the APC, with their unfortunate decision to paint our Muslim brothers in lousy light by insinuating that the Muslims in Nigeria will not accept or vote for a Northern Christian as Vice-President to pair with a Southern Muslim. If Muslims could vote voluntarily for Southern Christian Presidents, it is a fallacy to insinuate that they cannot accept Northern Christian Vice-President.
“This will permanently destroy the political viability of Northern Christians in Nigeria if allowed to stand. This is in addition to their failure to protect the lives and property of Nigerians, which should be their primary responsibility. The economy is also in tatters,” he wrote.
Background
The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, named former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate, on Sunday. It has drawn a myriad of reactions from Nigerians.
Mr Okonkwo was a former former member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, which resisted the same religion Presidential ticket in the past.
Explaining further the rationale behind decision, Mr Okonkwo noted that he could no longer continue to lend his name to what he termed abnormalities in the interest of mutual peaceful co-existence, integration and progress of Nigeria.
In an interview with BBC Igbo, he explained that he told Igbo people to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 to get a chance at fixing what he termed as “16 years of misrule”.
He stated that Nigeria needs a president of Igbo extraction to fix the southeast and engender political inclusion.
