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Elections: Christians didn't endorse Buhari – Christian Elders
…Buhari may have fallen into wrong hands – Northern CAN
The National Christian Elders Forum on Sunday dissociated itself from the purported endorsement of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming elections, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), by a group describing them as "unaccredited and unrecognized."
The Secretary of NCEF and delegate to 2014 national conference, Pastor 'Bosun Emmanuel, in a statement issued in Abuja on behalf of its chairman, Mr. Solomon Asemota (SAN), advised Christians "to resist the temptation of putting personal interests above the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ, because such compromise has terrible eternal consequences."
Buhari was said to have been endorsed for the March 28 general election by Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye Forum led by one Pastor Aminchi Habu and was also offered a copy of the Holy Bible.
As the endorsement was going on, information came to the venue, International Conference Centre (ICC) that some people have staged a walk-out because they were not told of their mission.
But NCEF called on politicians "to put the interest of the nation first in all forms of electioneering campaign and desist from acts that could be interpreted to imply desperate manipulation of the electorate for political power."
The statement reads: "It has come to the notice of the that an unaccredited group claiming Northern Christians Leaders Eagle Eye-Forum, purportedly on Thursday February 12, 2015, in Abuja, adopted the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming elections, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
"The National Christian Elders Forum wishes to state clearly that the only Northern Elders Forum accredited and recognized by the Christian Association of Nigeria is the Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF).
"The Elders Forum hereby declares that neither CAN, NOSCEF nor the NCEF
at any time supported or approved of the action of this unaccredited group. The National Christian Elders Forum wishes to admonish Christian leaders in Nigeria to resist the temptation of putting personal interests above the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ, because such compromise has terrible eternal consequences.
"The Elders Forum also advises politicians to put the interest of the nation first in all forms of electioneering campaign and desist from acts that could be interpreted to imply desperate manipulation of the electorate for political power."
Also reacting to the endorsement, the Public Relations Officer of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja), Mr. Sunny Oibe, said Buhari may have fallen into wrong hands because that group was not known.
He said, "There is no group like that which exists in Northern Nigeria because I am a Northerner and a Christian. I want Buhari to note that those people are impostors. The church in the North is led by ArchBishop Peter Jatto. We have not and cannot endorse Buhari because he has not told us that he is sorry for his alleged involvement in the post-election violence of 2011.
"When you are desperate, you can fall into the hands of wrong people. Buhari may have fallen into wrong hands. They are not Pastors and they are not known in the North. Ask him (Aminchi Habu) the church he attends in which he claims to be a Pastor."
After the endorsement, the following conversation ensued between Habu and journalists:
Q. Some of your members alleged that they were not carried along with the endorsement and you were allegedly sponsored because this is not a Northern Pastors Forum. Is this true?
A. Anybody that said we are sponsored Pastors have also been sponsored to come. We are about 218 and all those who came behind we know their mission and agenda and they cannot change our situation. We had a meeting in Zaria, Kaduna State and we all agreed that enough is enough and we need a change.
Q. Why is it that Northern CAN are not involved in this endorsement?
A. This is a forum of like minds. But CAN is the umbrella body that covers us. CAN is an entity of its own but we as leaders in our forum have endorsed Buhari.
Q. Did you make this known to CAN that you are endorsing Buhari?
A. There are many Christian organizations in CAN. But as far as this our forum is concerned and as children of God, we have endorsed Buhari and so CAN is on their own.
Q. But there are some of your members in this forum, their names are on the list. Yet, they reportedly staged a walkout from the hall. They claimed they were never part if it. Was the communique of your Kaduna meeting passed on to them?
A. If you show me them, I will tell you whether they are our members or not. But all our members are aware.
Q. How did you arrive at your membership?
A. If you are a Christian, you can register. If you register with your phone number, we will inform you anytime we have a meeting.
Q. How many denominations are represented here?
A. We don't have denominations; once you are a Christian, you are a member. We have many inter-denominations, as far as you are a child of God.
Q. In which church are you a Pastor?
A. He avoided the question and left…
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