The Chairmen, Christian Association of Nigeria, in the 19 Northern States and the FCT on Thursday night, disowned one Elder Sunday Oibe, who claimed to be the secretary of CAN in the region.
Oibe, while addressing journalists in Kaduna earlier on Thursday, rubbished the meeting by the former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Lawal Babachir with chairmen of the CAN and other Christian leaders from the region over the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.
According to him, Northern CAN will never go to any politician to hang around.
But in a swift reaction, the 19 Northern chairmen of CAN urged Nigerians to reject and discontinuance Oibe’s claims on the grounds that the new Constitution of the apex Christian body does not recognise either the Northern or Southern executive in its leadership structure.
Speaking on behalf of the 19 state chairmen of CAN in the North, Special Apostle Olaniyan Adebayo, the Kogi Chairman, said: “Elder Sunday Oibe is claiming to represent the church in a vacuum, because Northern or Southern CAN is no longer exists according to our new Constitution.
“I attended the meeting with Dogara, Lawal and other Christian leaders in Abuja. What we discussed is already in the public domain. The two APC chieftains simply urged us to stand our ground against the Muslim-Muslim ticket. They also expressed the willingness to work with the Church for justice and fairness in the management of our religious diversity.
“All Christians should be glad and happy that politicians are now willing to help us fight our battles even if they are doing so out of a selfish motive as claimed in certain quarters.
“As religious leaders, it is not in our place to judge or make conjectures on what their motivation for doing so it could be. The fact is that politicians are interested in defending the position of the Church.
“CAN has taken a firm stand against the Muslim-Muslim ticket and all the state chairmen in the North and the FCT align with that decision,” Adebayo exclusively told Vanguard.
In the same vein, another source who attended the meeting with Dogara, Lawal and others also slammed Oibe, describing him as a hireling.
“I was at the meeting. Those disowning the state Chairmen who attended the parley with the former Speaker are moles in CAN hired by the government as mercenaries.
“All the chairmen and secretaries as well as the three zonal chairmen of CAN in the North were present. We simply supported CAN’s position which says no to either Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket,” he said.
