Abuja, June 17, 2016 – The Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) is now polarized following the just concluded elections. Rev. Dr. Samson Ayokunle was elected as President of the association while Prof. Joseph Otubu was elected as Vice President.
The election which was conducted peacefully came with a lot of criticism and allegations by many, with threats that CAN may be threading on a slippery terrain. However, a group of Christians under the aegis of Patriotic Christian Youths of Nigeria (PCYN)have said that the election will not divide Christians.
The organisation which insisted that there was no division in CAN, described those calling for the cancelation of the election results as disgruntled former leaders who have been trying to find a place in its leadership.
During the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of CAN, President of Nigerian Baptist Convention, Dr. Supo Samson Ayokunle, was elected President, while Prof. Joseph Otubu of the Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Movement, was elected Vice President.
They will be inaugurated after the General Assembly CAN to be held at a later date in July.
President of PCYN, Evangelist Simon Timothy Nasso, at a press briefing in Abuja said the council was happy with the outcome of the election, adding that it has put to rest, the tension and agitation that characterised the process.
“The Bible is very explicit about evidence of those trying to tear the church apart; some claimed to be for Apostle Paul, while others Barnabas. For the record, there is no Northern or Southern CAN in the current CAN constitution. The CAN constitution provides for the states and the geo-political zones for ease of administration only.
“Those telling you that the North will break out of CAN are just deceiving the public. They are not in the CAN Constitution in the first place, if we must say the truth, they are a set of disgruntled former CAN leaders and their supporters who are trying to find a place of leadership in CAN.
“They have lost touch with CAN and have been looking for an opportunity to create a faction. They are persons who feel a Northern Government in Nigeria should have a Northern CAN leadership. For your information, all the statutory leaders of CAN in Northern Nigeria were at the CAN election; the Zonal and State Chairmen were all present.
“All the people calling for the cancellation of the election to give room for further meetings and reconciliation are just deceiving the public because beside their interest in a particular candidate, they have no legal right to attend any of the meetings they are calling for. All the meetings in CAN are well defined in the constitution.”
On the news that the Catholic bloc pulled out of CAN and did not participate in the elections because a particular candidate was denied participation, the group said itbis true that the Catholic Secretariat bloc through the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria wrote a letter to the CAN President demanding for a meeting to be held and some issues regarding the elections are resolves before election.
“The leadership of CAN, understanding the need for peaceful resolution of issues and appreciating the importance of the Catholic bloc’s participation, agreed that the CAN NEC will sit and resolve the grievances of the Catholic bloc before the commencement of the election.
“At the meeting, special opportunity was given to the Catholic bloc who was fully represented in the meeting, but the most unfortunate aspect of the whole issues is that the leader of the Catholic bloc who is also the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria who signed the letter was represented in the meeting as it has always been the case. Unfortunately the representative came with a standing order that they were free to participate in the meeting but must abstain from voting if election will be conducted’’, it said.
The group noted that notwithstanding, the CAN leadership gave the Catholic bloc the opportunity to express their feelings but that the 10 delegates from Catholic could not vote because they couldn’t reach the Bishops with the result before the end of the meeting.
“Knowing Arch Bishop Kaigama as a peaceful man, we expect that for the sake of his love for the church and avoidance of false insinuations he would have sparedntime to attend the meeting personally.
On the issue of denial of a particular candidate from participation in the election process, the group said no CAN leader prevented any candidate from participation in the election.
“As being the practice, letters were written to all the blocs to present candidates for the election. This also confirmed the fact that all blocs are qualified to contest for the office of the president at every given time in line with her constitution. It’s only the bloc that can present a candidate and that if a particular candidate could not get his bloc to present him does not mean that CAN should be divided or close. The report of the Electoral College is very clear on the efforts made to settle the TEKAN/ECWA bloc internal disputes. Its complete falsehood to mislead the public that it is the turn of TEKAN/ECWA to produce the President of CAN. We regard these insinuations as end time desperation’’, the group said.
On the issue of court injunction stopping the CAN NEC from holding the elections, the group said, it has it on sound record that no competent court gave any order stopping the National CAN Election.
“ Rather a copy of the court ruling confirmed that Rev. Jeremiah Gado’s application for injunction was refused by the court. It’s unfortunate to read on dailies that CAN conducted election despite court order stopping it.
On the issue of Northern and southern CAN or southern and Northern CAN candidates, the group said the Bible is very explicit about evidence of those trying to tear the church apart; some claimed to be for Apostle Paul while others Barnabas.
“For the record, there is no Northern or Southern CAN in the current CAN constitution. The CAN constitution provides for the states and the geo-political zones for ease of administration only. Those telling you that the North will break out of CAN are just deceiving the public. They are not in the CAN Constitution in the first place, if we must say the truth, they are a set of disgruntled former CAN leaders and their supporters who are trying to find a place of leadership in CAN.
“They have lost touch with CAN and have been looking for an opportunity to create a faction. They are persons who feel a Northern Government in Nigeria should have a Northern CAN leadership. For your information, all the statutory leaders of CAN in Northern Nigeria were at the CAN election; the Zonal and State Chairmen were all present. All the people calling for the cancellation of the election to give room for further meetings and reconciliation are just deceiving the public because beside their interest in a particular candidate, they have no legal right to attend any of the meetings they are calling for. All the meetings in CAN are well defined in the constitution and they are not part of any’’, the group said.
