Nigerian Christians at home and abroad will be
shocked by the reported crass opportunism of some
of their religious leaders as next week’s presidential
polls draw closer, SaharaReporters has learned.
Authoritative sources disclose that during a meeting of
Christian leaders held recently, the President of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor expressed
a strangely personal reason why he is not supporting
the clamor of Nigerians for change in the country.
Oritsejafor told his colleagues at the event, which was
convened at the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian
Church of God on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that oil bloc
leases are due for renewal this year, and if the Buhari-
Osinbajo ticket prevails, his chances of owning one would
diminish.
“The oil in my father’s backyard,” he specifically said. “I don’t
own one bloc, and all these Northerners have oil blocs!”
The CAN president has been known to be an ardent supporter
of President Goodluck Jonathan, and anopponent of his
leading challenger, General Mohammadu Buhari.
What shocked many of the Christian leaders at the
meeting, howver, was his message that he
was less interested in good governance or the killing of
innocent Nigerians by Boko Haram in the Northeastern part of
Nigeria, and more so about his desire to also own an oil
bloc this year.
Reported to be an even more vocal supporter of Jonathan at
the meeting was Bishop David Oyedepowho reportedly said it
would be an insult to have any of the Christian leaders at the
meeting to vote for Buhari. At a point, a respected pastor,
Bishop Mike Okonkwo of TREM, lambasted the meeting for
not inviting Pastor Yemi Osinbajo to witness the meeting,
being himself a Christian leader and pastor.
According to Okonkwo, the least the Christian leaders
could have done was invite Osinbajo and hear from him,
adding that not doing that was “an act of cowardice.”
Oyedepo, our source said, did not take kindly to that
suggestion from a Bishop of equal caliber, and demanded an
apology from Okonkwo. Okonkwo, equally annoyed,
insisted on his position and refused to offer an apology at the
tension-filled meeting.
Sources said the conveners of the meeting did not want to
invite Osinbajo as the candidates on the other ticketwere also
not represented. But some sources at the meeting said it was
a disgrace that a fellow pastor at their level, running for Vice-
President was not even allowed to sit in at the meeting which
was convened under the banner of the Nigerian Apostolic
Coalition,membership of which he was entitled to.
While Oyedepo maintained his advocacy for President
Jonathan at the meeting, at times in vehement anger and
outright disrespect for the opposing views of the other
pastors, a leading Bishop from the North spoke up against the
plans of Oyedepo and Oritsejafor to mobilize support for the
president. Christian leaders in the North have always
criticized the lust of some Southern Christian leaders for
material things making them not to empathize with the
sufferings of the Christians in the North, who are facing
persecution.
Bishop Jonas Katung of
the Maranatha Churchin Josexplained that President
Jonathan has done nothing in the past four years deserving of
a second term. Katung, who is known as the Lion of Jos, was
ordained Bishop in Jos by RCCG’s Pastor E.A. Adeboye in
2013.
He strongly advocated that the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket should
be given a chance given the level of failure of the incumbent.
Pastor Mathew Kasali of the Foundation of Truth Assembly in
Lagos also spoke passionately at the meeting, calling on the
Christian leaders to remain neutral and not become
encumbered with partisan issues for any reason. He also
supported Bishop Okonkwo that Pastor Osinbajo, “who is one
of us,” should be allowed to address the meeting.
A source at the meeting disclosed that the national clamor for
change in the country as being captured by the Buhari-
Osinbajo ticket has now become a source of great fear by
several Christian leaders in the Southern part of the country,
essentially because of their own selfish interests.
He asked in disappointment, “Where is the fear of God in the
lives of some of these leaders?”

These clerics should put the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians in mind and not succumb to their selfish inclinations. We've suffered enough to still be suffering.
Everyone is bound to his own opinions; but when you try to impose it on others, there is bound to be chaos.
I pray there is no repeat of the 2011 mistake.
And i hope that the best candidate wins.
SAY NO POLITICAL MATERIALISM!
God bless Nigeria