THE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that it has not changed its position on the Muslim-Muslim ticket presented by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election.
CAN made this known in a statement on Monday in reaction to media reports that alleged that its leadership had changed its position on the Muslim-Muslim ticket after meeting with APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and his campaign team.
In the statement signed by its General -Secretary Joseph Daramola, the apex Christian body urged Nigerians to discountenance the story, describing the report as ridiculous, malicious, and untrue.
“To say the least, the story is ridiculous, malicious, untrue and should be disregarded in its entirety by all reasonable members of the society,” the statement said.
“For the records, CAN took a position against the same-faith ticket imbroglio under the leadership of Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle, its immediate past national president, and as a matter of fact, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Okoh, stands on that same position.
“CAN may not agree with every decision taken by politicians and political parties, but it respects their right to reach conclusions on issues that affect their electoral fortunes so long as they accord with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Electoral Act (2022).”
The association reiterated that it was non-partisan but remains willing to partner with all leaders and other relevant stakeholders to achieve unity, peace and progress in the country.
It emphasised that the umbrella Christian organisation cannot be antagonistic to any well-meaning political party or group as the nation warms up for a fresh round of elections in 2023, as claimed in the said report.
In the same vein, CAN condemned what it described as “the attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill with Tinubu’s presence at the 70th Birthday Celebration of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Matthew Hassan Kukah in Abuja”.
CAN noted that the event was public and the celebrant’s friends and other good-spirited Nigerians donated to the building of The Kukah Centre, which was designed to be a veritable platform to propagate and promote the ideals of democracy and responsible leadership through research and intellectualism.
It said that the donations, which went directly to The Kukah Centre, have nothing to do with CAN, adding that it was therefore mischievous to insinuate it was a sort of bribe money for Christian leaders to make a U-turn on their stance against same-faith ticket.
As a faith-based organisation, CAN maintained that its conscience could not be bought and its prophetic voice could not be silenced with money.
It called on political parties and their candidates to put the nation first in their considerations and prepare to serve the people with earnestness and humility.
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