A former presidential candidate and chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has urged politicians and major political parties to desist from ethnic and religious tantrums capable of widening the existing gulfs and cleavages among the citizens and voters.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his media office, Olawepo-Hashim said the campaign outfits and leaders of major political parties were complicating the nation’s ethnic and religious relations in their bids to win votes in 2023, instead of focusing on plans to transform the economy and programmes to achieve social and political development, national security and unity.

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The business mogul said most of the campaigners were churning out messages with ethnic and religious nuances, warning that Nigeria’s polity “has never descended this low since our independence as a nation, and since our return to democratic rule in 1999”.

He recalled that in the First and Second Republics, the political parties were identified and known by their plans, programmes and principles, unlike the current situation where contestants “are busy talking about tribe, creed and crowd they can parade on the streets”.

Olawepo-Hashim said: “It is time for the leaders of the various political parties to check the activities of their campaigns where their messages seem to undermine our national unity. The INEC, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other relevant state institutions must step up their games.”