Buhari’s Former Aide, Bashir Ahmad, Sets Condition for Supporting a Christian/Christian Presidential Ticket

Bashir Ahmad, who served as a media aide to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, has publicly stated the specific condition under which he would be willing to support a Christian/Christian ticket for the presidency. This revelation came as the former aide responded to a query from a user on the microblogging platform X, clarifying a stance he was earlier accused of avoiding regarding a “same faith” ticket.

Dependable NG reports that the question posed to Bashir by the X user, @Jayden_071, pointedly asked why he had previously dodged the query about accepting a potential Christian/Christian ticket, urging him to provide a direct answer. In his response, Bashir Ahmad made it clear that his support is entirely contingent upon the decision of his political organization. He stated emphatically that he would lend his full support to a Christian/Christian ticket if his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), were to present two such candidates, provided he believed they represented the best options available for the nation’s leadership. He wrote: “If the political party I belong to presents two Christians whom I believe are the best options for the country, why not?”

This current discussion revisits a major national controversy from 2022 when the ruling APC nominated a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket. Despite the considerable public outrage that arose across the country, particularly from the Christian community, the same-faith ticket ultimately prevailed. The ticket, which featured President Bola Tinubu and his vice president, Kashim Shettima, successfully won the election, demonstrating the complex dynamics of Nigerian politics where party loyalty and perceived competence often intersect with sensitive issues of religious representation. Bashir’s stance, therefore, appears to prioritise his allegiance to the APC and his belief in the candidates’ competence, rather than the religious composition of the ticket itself.