Muhammadu Buhari
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 (rtd), by a group describing them as “unaccredited and unrecognised.”
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.”
There was a reported claim that Buhari was endorsed by the Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye Forum led by one Pastor Aminchi Habu for the March 28 general election and was also offered a copy of the Holy Bible at the purported endorsement.
A walk-out was said to have been staged by some of the attendees who claimed they were not told of their mission while the controversial endorsement was going on at the venue, International Conference Centre (ICC).
But in a statement, the 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.”
According to the statement: “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 (rtd).
“The National Christian Elders Forum wishes to state clearly that the only Northern Elders Forum accredited and recognised 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.”
Reacting to the endorsement, the Public Relations Officer of CAN in the 19 Northern States and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe, said Buhari may have fallen into wrong hands because that group was not known.
“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”, Oibe stated.
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