By Seriki Adinoyi


Ahead of the forthcoming elections, National President of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Rev Jeremiah Gado, has handed down a warning to members of the church not to vote for politicians that kill, and destroy places of worship, or those that sponsor hoodlums to do so.

In an exclusive interview with THISDAY, the cleric called on his members to vote people that are God-fearing, who will give others the opportunity to practice their religions.

Responding to a question on whether ECWA has a particular presidential candidate it has decided to vote for, Rev Gado said, “I will be stupid to choose a candidate for my congregation; every Christian has the Holy Spirit to direct him or her appropriately. We will only give them guidelines. We are not for a particular party; there are Christians in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and there are Christians in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“So, we do not chose candidates for our members because there are Christians who are bad leaders just as there are Muslims that are bad leaders. So, candidates should be judged by their characters and not their religion.
“But I told my members clearly, and I am still telling them again that they should not vote for people that kill and destroy places of worship; and for those that sponsor hoodlums to kill and destroy places of worship. Let’s not give them the chance to come and further divide us. We must vote for people that will ensure freedom of religion in any part of the country; who will ensure unity and progress of Nigeria.”

On the current attacks on churches in the North-east by Boko Haram, the cleric said: “Sometimes I tend to think it’s political; indeed an attempt to discredit President Jonathan’s government, to make him look so bad, so that people don’t vote for him.”

On the recent attempt by the Katsina State government to construct road across the compound of one its churches in the state, Gado said: “I observe that our political leaders are bad administrators and hypocrites; in public they will say there is freedom of religion, but in practice that freedom is only given to one religion. I speak as ECWA President, that Christians, particularly here in the North have been denied privileges. I say this without fear that what Christians are passing through here in the North is persecution.
“You see mosques constructed anyhow and anywhere here in the North, even by the road sides, yet government won’t say anything. And I am very sure that some of these mosques don’t have C-of-Os. I do not have problem with that; I am for religious tolerance. But let Christians be given equal opportunities.

“Our leaders are supposed to be leading on behalf of God to provide a level-playing field for all, but it is most unfortunate that they are all hypocrites. This is what will continue to destroy the North and Nigeria.

“We must learn to live and tolerate one another. For us in the Christian faith, we are commanded to love our enemies and even pray for them. We cannot kill. God does not need our help to kill anyone he wants to kill. Nobody should take it upon himself to kill on behalf of God; God is not helpless. But when our churches are being destroyed all the time, it is religious intolerance.”

He added: “This is a church that has been built there for over 99 years. We had applied for the renewal of C-of-O (Certificate of Occupancy) but up till this time they have refused to renew it. And this is very common in states like Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, Yobe, Borno, and Katsina. It is common in these states that when a C-of-O of a church property expires, they refuse to renew it. They have targeted this property for about two years now.

“My concern is that this road they want to construct leads to nowhere; that is why I just feel it’s another plan to persecute the Church. They are just hiding under the cloak of road construction to get down the church and the school in the compound.”

He said ECWA is praying and hoping that the right thing would be done to it by the Katsina State government.

“But we are prepared for the worst. The worst will be that I will personally lead all my members to go there and defend the property. Let them run the caterpillar over me and my members before going ahead to destroy the property. Then the whole world will know that Christians in the North are being persecuted.”

Rawani:
This man collected money from Jonathan's cronies just this Saturday at the ICC in Abuja, I have that information on solid authority, therefore I'm not surprised. It hurts that this is supposed to be the leader of my Church, and he is defending Jonathan on the issue of BH while forgetting he is the endangered one. The church in Nigeria has been corrupted by GEJ.

Kundagarten:
I think he is saying don't vote APC in a coded way.

Rawani:
This man collected money from Jonathan's cronies just this Saturday at the ICC in Abuja, I have that information on solid authority, therefore I'm not surprised. It hurts that this is supposed to be the leader of my Church, and he is defending Jonathan on the issue of BH while forgetting he is the endangered one. The church in Nigeria has been corrupted by GEJ.