N igerian 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?”

source: http://saharareporters.com/2015/02/04/10-days-election-jonathan-splits-nigerian-pastors

The fear of Buhari is the end of wisdom

... and I should believe politica 'Saharareporters '?
HELL NO! only GOD knows the truth!



it's none of my business.