The President, Christian Association of Nigeria, His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, says the country is facing a crisis of development and governance.
He blamed the challenges on what he described as the “incoherent constitutional and institutional framework” of the country.The CAN President stated this during the first leg of an interactive session with 2023 presidential candidates organised by the apex Christian body in Abuja on Tuesday.
The theme of the presidential dialogue is ‘A Prosperous and Peaceful Nigeria Founded on Justice and Freedom for All.’
He explained that CAN had spent time to review the problems that hindered peace and progress in the country and articulated suggestions on how best to resolve them.Okoh said, “We have consulted with Nigerians of diverse religious, ethnic and social identities on the problems of the country and the solutions to them have been articulated in the strategic document we call the Charter for Future Nigeria.
“The document considers this incoherence in political, social, and economic dimensions. It makes genuine recommendations for resolving Nigeria’s recurrent crises that borders on justice and fairness, equality of all ethnic and religious groups, equal access to basic economic and social rights, political freedom and an egalitarian and just social order.”
According to him, the essence of the dialogue is to ensure that all the presidential candidates understand the concerns of Nigerian Christians and propose policy and programme to address them.
Speaking at the meeting, the presidential candidate of the Action Alliance, Hamza Al-Mustapha, who identified insecurity and economic sabotage as major teething challenges that would confront the next administration, said Nigeria did not need an unreliable leader.
The second leg of the interactive session between CAN and all the 2023 presidential candidates is billed to hold in the nation’s capital today (Wednesday) with the standard bearers of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar; and Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Tinubu had selected former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.However, his decision to run alongside a Muslim like himself was met with criticisms from CAN and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, led by Bishop Wale Oke.
