The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has described the menace of insecurity, occasioned by the criminal activities of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers in the country as the biggest threat to the next year general election.
CAN President, His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle made this assertion on Tuesday evening in an interactive session some Christian leaders had with the European Union Delegation led by the EU Chief Election Observer, Ms. Maria Arena.
A statement by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the Special Assistant (Media & Communications) to the CAN President said the EU Dlegation is a mission to the country from 1-5 March in preparation for the coming general election observation.
The delegation sought to know the position of the Association on the level of preparation of all the stakeholders – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the security agencies and the political parties.
Dr. Ayokunle, who also doubles as the Co-Chairman of the Nigeria Inter Religious Council (NIREC), explained that the security situation in the country might not allow the general election to be credible, free and fair if the voters are not allowed to go out to exercise their rights because of fear of being harmed , kidnapped or killed.
“We call on the Federal Government and the security agencies to wake up to the security challenges in the country where terrorists, bandits and kidnappers are operating with impunity and nowhere is safe and secure again. If the trend continues, many voters may not participate and the outcome of the election may not be credible,” the CAN President said.
He observed that the government appears to be struggling to deal with the ugly situation, noting that their present effort is far from being enough. “We have been struggling with this situation now for the past thirteen years, yet, we are still where we are!” he said.
He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be apolitical in the assignment and asked the members of the commission who are card carrying members of the ruling party to step down or be flushed out in order to avoid compromised election results.
Ayokunle tasked INEC to borrow a leaf from its counterpart in Gambia where their recently conducted elections were far better than Nigeria’s elections.
He disclosed that all election observers, including All Africa Conference of Churches’ delegation that he led there adjudged the election to be credible.
According to him, ‘Gambia’s elections were more credible, free and fair. It was also free from security harassment and there was a level playing field for all the parties involved.
‘We are supposed to be doing better because we have more resources and more capacity than Gambian.’
He disclosed that CAN has no candidate for the office of the President, but reiterated the position of the Association on the need to have a Christian President as the successor of President Muhammadu Buhari who is a Muslim and would have spent eight years in office by 2023.
According to him, “Although Nigeria is practising democracy but because of our peculiarities which include multicultural, multi-tribal, and multi-religious nature, ours should be a ‘home grown democracy’ where every divide should be given a sense of belonging.
“Even if the constitution is silent on the six geopolitical zones rotational representation, the political parties should be wise enough to make use of it in sharing the leadership positions. We have warned all political parties against fielding either Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian Presidential candidates.
“Since President Muhammadu Buhari is a Muslim from the North, in the interest of equity, fairness,social justice and cohesion, the next President should be a Christian from the South.”
After the interactions, the leader of the delegation, Ms Maria Arena thanked the leadership of CAN for honouring their invitation and promised to carry the Association along in its assignments.
Meanwhile, the CAN President, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle has advised all churches in Nigeria to make the first week of March a week for soul-winning.
He urged all churches under the umbrella of the Association to use the week as a period of soul winning so that bloodletting and all other crimes might reduce.
He urged Christians to share their faith, their testimonies and spread the gospel of God’s love and mercy to all who have not known the Him through Jesus Christ.