TEXT OF A PRESS STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR, LEGAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN) EVANGELIST BARRISTER KWAMKUR SAMUEL VONDIP ON THE FORTHCOMING CAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE STATE OF THE NATION HELD ON 2ND JUNE, 2019 IN JOS.

Gentlemen of the press.

It is my constitutional responsibility as the Legal and Public Relation Officer of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to address you and state clearly the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria with regards to her constitution and processes our forthcoming presidential would involve and equally comment on the state of our nation; challenges and expectations.

ON CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Gentlemen of the press, it is not news that the three-year tenure of the President and Vice President of CAN is coming to an end by July 2019 having taking Office on 20th July, 2016. It is becoming normal that whenever there is transition of leadership in the Association, some ignorant persons find it an opportunity to go into the media to misinform innocent Nigerians particularly the Christian Community on the election process and their expectations. In fact, most times the leadership’s life in some occasion is put on line.

We found it necessary to clearly brief you on the election processes and program to avoid been misled as members of the forth realm of the estate from participating in dishing out falsehood ignorantly.
The processes and procedure of CAN elections is provided for in the Constitution of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) 2004. The provisions of the Constitution as to the election into the offices of the President and Vice President of the Association is very explicit. For instant; Article 14 provides for the Nomination, Qualification and method of nomination and election of the President and Vice President.  Article 14 (a) states; “the President and Vice President shall be elected by the National Assembly from nominations submitted by the National Executive Committee and shall hold office for an initial term of three years and shall be eligible for a final term of another three years, thereafter the office shall rotate to another Church Group accordingly”.  Now, prior to the nomination to the National Assembly by the National Executive Committee, Article 14 (d)(1) provides that, “the President and Vice President must be nominated by an Electoral College of 15 Spiritual Leaders, each of whom must not be below the rank of a Bishop or its equivalent selected from the CSN,CCN,CPFN/PFN,OAIC and TEKAN/ECWA Fellowship in the ratio of 3:3:3:3:3.”

Members of the Press, for the fear of bothering you with constitutional details, we must say that the Constitution of CAN is explicit as to the person’s qualification to contest for the offices of the President and Vice President of CAN. The Constitution is also clear as to the delegates that vote in such elections, starting with the members of the Electoral College to National Executive Committee and the General Assembly. Article 9 Provides for the Organs of the Association with membership and their functions.

On the forthcoming elections, each bloc was contacted to submit names of candidates interested in contesting for the office of the President. Three blocs indicated interest namely, CCN, OAIC and TEKAN/ECWA. The Electoral College which was inaugurated early May 2019 has sat on the nominations and elected two out of the three candidates namely Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle the current President of CAN who is going for a possible second tenure from CCN and Rev. Dr Caleb Solomon Ahima from TEKAN/ECWA.

From the forgoing, there are only two stages remaining for the election to be completed. The National Executive Committee (NEC) will vote for the two nominated candidates and the person with the highest vote will be deemed elected as President while the runner up will be considered elected as the Vice President. The process will be completed with the final ratification of the two elected leaders by the National Assembly of the Association at a later date. Date has been fixed for the election of the President by NEC in June 2019 while the ratification comes on a date in July 2019.

It is unfortunate that there are some ignorant or mischievous persons going around to campaign against one another in a process that is supposed to be more spiritual than carnal. The election that is supposed to be done under solemn atmosphere is often been heated by mischief makers.

The structure of CAN as provided for in the Association’s Constitution is very comprehensive. All Christian Churches have been carefully grouped under 5 various blocs for ease of relationship and decision making with their roles and functions clearly stated.  All the delegates at the election or meeting of CAN at all levels are representation of the Christian groupings and blocs on equal basis. If that be the case, why should Christians go on media to blackmail one another if they are truly Christians? How can the church be united and speak with one voice when at every point there are persons persecuting the leadership on the media? We cannot shy aware from the need for credible and sincere criticisms. Yet we cannot tolerate the formation of groups and so called organisations at the transition period of the Association with the formation of unnecessary groups and organizations for the purposes of just wrestling leadership. For a Christian to come out in a media and state that 50 or 500 Christian Organizations have met and decided on the leadership of CAN in a meeting held at the National Christian Centre is the most grievous falsehood peddled by agents of Satan. We cannot be against formation of Organizations that will provide voices and relief for persecuted Christians in Nigeria but we will surely stand against election induced formation of organizations that placed herself as monitors to CAN without any vision for the success of leadership and the future of the Church.

While not shying away from challenges of leadership, the CAN leadership as constituted under Rev. Dr Supo Samson Ayokunle has done her best in coordinating the various Church blocs, building relationships amongst blocs and beyond, confronting the authorities that be on serious state issues. Undertaking visits to persecuted and displace persons in various IDP camps in Borno, Kaduna, Taraba Yola, Enugu, Benue, Plateau and many other Communities with relieve materials despite lean resources.

We urge committed Christians to pray for the forthcoming Presidential Election of CAN. As it stands, all church groups under CAN are adequately represented amongst the delegates to the election and they should be allowed to vote in line with the wishes of their blocs and consciences. Our prayer and expectation are that the Church should set the standard for credible leadership and elections without rancor.

ON THE STATE OF THE NATION

It is germane for us to reecho on the challenges we have faced as a nation and to also try to raise our voice again on the state of the nation at this point that Nigeria is going into transition of leadership and beginning of term of office by the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of States, Members of the National Assembly and States Assemblies.

May we congratulate the elected leaders to the various position of responsibility that God has placed them. One thing we know as Christians is the fact that God is in charge of the universe and the nations, he gives power to whoever He so wishes and remove whoever he so wishes at any particular point in time. We pray constantly for the welfare and wellbeing of our leaders at all levels.

For some years now, the Church has been deeply concerned about the state of the nation as regard the following:

Level of insecurity of the nation; the increase and expansion of the activities of insurgencies, Armed bandits, Armed robbery, Kidnappers, Killer Fulani Herdsmen seems to have continued unabated. We expect the government to be bold enough to take responsibility and be sincere in providing convincing lasting solutions. The situation whereby the Government will be denying the increasing rate of insecurity while the security budget keeps swelling up with increase in casualties amongst the security operatives, increase in number of victims and cry by communities is worrisome and calls for serious reflections. We advocate further for the creation of state police as the major solutions to ending this communities’ invasions by so called unknown gunmen.

The inability of the Federal Government to ensure the release of Leah Sharibu and other abducted victims of Boko Haram gives us sleeplessness. One of the cardinal promises of President Buhari’s Administration is the end to the reign of terrorism and ensuring the released of captured victims of insurgents but the first tenure ended up without achieving maximally such result.  We pray and hope that President Buhari will do everything within his ability to achieve this goal if he is to be taken more seriously.

on the fight against corruption; while quite a number of Nigerians have been arrested and prosecuted with others undergoing investigation and prosecution, it is not news that a lot of corrupt former and present leaders are moving freely suggesting the selective nature of the fight. It is a shame to our nation and for citizens to believe the notion that when you join the team of the President or the ruling party then “your sins are forgiven”.  The fight against corruption must go beyond media propaganda and be wholistic and no less. 

On planned Fulanization or Islamization: CAN believes that the foundation for Islamisation of Nigeria has since been laid by the makers of the Nigeria Constitution and some previous leaders of Nigeria.  Particular examples are the provisions made in the Constitution for the operation of Sharia laws and Courts. This makes the common law and the sharia law to be operating in the same constitution. This naturally has divided the nation into two and sets the tone for Islamization. The implication of this scenario is confusion. Furthermore, as we have said before, the registration of Nigeria, (a secular state) as a member of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC) by military fiat is a further confirmation of deliberate Islamization of the country. This calls for review if our leaders are sincere with their claim that nobody is islamizing the country.

We commend sincerely the position of the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for opening up against the planned Islamization of Nigeria. The former President simply repeated what many of our CAN leaders have said before. We had even taken this in written form to the Presidency for immediate attention. If what Obasanjo said should be doubted, what is the justification for the community cleansing by killer Fulani Herdsmen who jump on innocent communities in the night killing them and taking over their communities? We never saw any far reaching steps taken to bring these killer herdsmen to book! What is the justification for the Federal Government effort to create and maintain cattle routes or colony for Fulani herders despite their level of impunity? How can you justify the Federal Government’s establishment of a radio station for Fulani? (Though this is being denied recently that is was established for nomadic education) Why can’t strict security measures that silenced the IPOB in few days be taken against Boko Haram and killer Fulani Herdsmen? We cannot for many years claim that our borders are porous and nothing is done about it. Nigeria cannot afford to be losing her citizens for years because we have an uncontrolled border. We commend Chief Obasanjo’s boldness to speak out at this critical period of the nation. We wonder what will become the fate of Nigeria and Nigerians if respected and bold leaders like Obasanjo are no more there to speak. We call on the Federal Government to take seriously the alarm raised by Chief Obasanjo and act on it if they are to be trusted. Chief Obasanjo has spoken the mind of many people and we urge that he should never be intimidated by government for the sake of peace.

On Appointment into Government: we call on the President to keep his promise of constituting an all-inclusive Government. The appointments of office holders should reflect the Federal Character nature of Nigeria taking into cognizance the appointments of young persons, women and the physically challenged. We have severally called on the Government to overhaul the Security sector of this nation. having almost all military and paramilitary Chiefs coming from the same region and religion is unfair and uncalled for and cannot be accepted.

Workers Welfare: The Federal, State and Local Governments must take the welfare of the workers as a serious concern. Commitment goes with sincerity of purpose. The situation whereby workers are denied their entitlements is worrisome. The scripture says; a laborer is entitled to his/her daily bread. None payment of workers salaries within time and other welfare packages have generated acrimony, insubordination and incessant strike actions in many sectors particularly education. This should not be allowed to continue. Government institutions at all level should take their responsibility seriously particularly as it affects the welfare of their workers.

On Unemployment and Youth Empowerment:  we acknowledge the Federal Government efforts in creating job through Agricultural activities and other entrepreneurship measures. There is a lot that need to be done to provide jobs and means of livelihood for Nigerians. The truth is that Nigerians are suffering and groaning.

On the need for true independents for arms of government:  while we appreciate the stands of the National Assembly and the Judiciary on many issues, we must encourage that the incoming Members of the National Assembly must be bold to stand as the independent arm of government they are. We pray for harmonious working relationship between the three arms but the issue of political party or Executive Arm of Government deciding the leadership of the National Assembly portends danger to our growing democracy. The laws are clear on the election process of Principal Officers of the National Assembly. If leadership is built on transparency, sincerity and people oriented, no arm of Government should be afraid of any arm or its leadership. We encourage the judiciary to purge herself and be firm in taking critical decisions especially those appointed into the various Elections Tribunals as an arm that is solely answerable to God and not man.  No democratic government can succeed without the understanding of roles required by each of the arm.

On welfare Packages to the elderly and retired persons: it is our firm believe that the fear of the unknow is a contributory factor to the rising level of corruption in Nigeria. It is high time Government decides on making concrete arrangements for the aged and retired civil and public servants, military and paramilitary personnel including the aged generally. Doing this will give hope to sincere and prudent Nigerians. We believe that timely payment of retirement packages and pensions to those who have served the nation diligently will put to rest the fear leading to stealing by those serving today. A growing and developing nation like ours must live up to her responsibility of providing for the poor and aged amongst us.  

In conclusion, we have confidence that there will be great improvement in the system of Governance with the new term of office. We believe that the government will be willing to take credible and sincere criticisms from all angles. It is our hope that the game of blaming past administration on many issues will not be heard again and that persons with fresh blood, idea and vision will be constituted to drive the economy and the well-being of our nation at the Federal and States levels.

We call on committed and reasonable Nigerians to pray more for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria and to be willing to speak up on issues that will move our nation forward.TEXT OF A PRESS STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR, LEGAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN) EVANGELIST BARRISTER KWAMKUR SAMUEL VONDIP ON THE FORTHCOMING CAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE STATE OF THE NATION HELD ON 2ND JUNE, 2019 IN JOS.

Gentlemen of the press.

It is my constitutional responsibility as the Legal and Public Relation Officer of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to address you and state clearly the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria with regards to her constitution and processes our forthcoming presidential would involve and equally comment on the state of our nation; challenges and expectations.

ON CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Gentlemen of the press, it is not news that the three-year tenure of the President and Vice President of CAN is coming to an end by July 2019 having taking Office on 20th July, 2016. It is becoming normal that whenever there is transition of leadership in the Association, some ignorant persons find it an opportunity to go into the media to misinform innocent Nigerians particularly the Christian Community on the election process and their expectations. In fact, most times the leadership’s life in some occasion is put on line.

We found it necessary to clearly brief you on the election processes and program to avoid been misled as members of the forth realm of the estate from participating in dishing out falsehood ignorantly.
The processes and procedure of CAN elections is provided for in the Constitution of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) 2004. The provisions of the Constitution as to the election into the offices of the President and Vice President of the Association is very explicit. For instant; Article 14 provides for the Nomination, Qualification and method of nomination and election of the President and Vice President.  Article 14 (a) states; “the President and Vice President shall be elected by the National Assembly from nominations submitted by the National Executive Committee and shall hold office for an initial term of three years and shall be eligible for a final term of another three years, thereafter the office shall rotate to another Church Group accordingly”.  Now, prior to the nomination to the National Assembly by the National Executive Committee, Article 14 (d)(1) provides that, “the President and Vice President must be nominated by an Electoral College of 15 Spiritual Leaders, each of whom must not be below the rank of a Bishop or its equivalent selected from the CSN,CCN,CPFN/PFN,OAIC and TEKAN/ECWA Fellowship in the ratio of 3:3:3:3:3.”

Members of the Press, for the fear of bothering you with constitutional details, we must say that the Constitution of CAN is explicit as to the person’s qualification to contest for the offices of the President and Vice President of CAN. The Constitution is also clear as to the delegates that vote in such elections, starting with the members of the Electoral College to National Executive Committee and the General Assembly. Article 9 Provides for the Organs of the Association with membership and their functions.

On the forthcoming elections, each bloc was contacted to submit names of candidates interested in contesting for the office of the President. Three blocs indicated interest namely, CCN, OAIC and TEKAN/ECWA. The Electoral College which was inaugurated early May 2019 has sat on the nominations and elected two out of the three candidates namely Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle the current President of CAN who is going for a possible second tenure from CCN and Rev. Dr Caleb Solomon Ahima from TEKAN/ECWA.

From the forgoing, there are only two stages remaining for the election to be completed. The National Executive Committee (NEC) will vote for the two nominated candidates and the person with the highest vote will be deemed elected as President while the runner up will be considered elected as the Vice President. The process will be completed with the final ratification of the two elected leaders by the National Assembly of the Association at a later date. Date has been fixed for the election of the President by NEC in June 2019 while the ratification comes on a date in July 2019.

It is unfortunate that there are some ignorant or mischievous persons going around to campaign against one another in a process that is supposed to be more spiritual than carnal. The election that is supposed to be done under solemn atmosphere is often been heated by mischief makers.

The structure of CAN as provided for in the Association’s Constitution is very comprehensive. All Christian Churches have been carefully grouped under 5 various blocs for ease of relationship and decision making with their roles and functions clearly stated.  All the delegates at the election or meeting of CAN at all levels are representation of the Christian groupings and blocs on equal basis. If that be the case, why should Christians go on media to blackmail one another if they are truly Christians? How can the church be united and speak with one voice when at every point there are persons persecuting the leadership on the media? We cannot shy aware from the need for credible and sincere criticisms. Yet we cannot tolerate the formation of groups and so called organisations at the transition period of the Association with the formation of unnecessary groups and organizations for the purposes of just wrestling leadership. For a Christian to come out in a media and state that 50 or 500 Christian Organizations have met and decided on the leadership of CAN in a meeting held at the National Christian Centre is the most grievous falsehood peddled by agents of Satan. We cannot be against formation of Organizations that will provide voices and relief for persecuted Christians in Nigeria but we will surely stand against election induced formation of organizations that placed herself as monitors to CAN without any vision for the success of leadership and the future of the Church.

While not shying away from challenges of leadership, the CAN leadership as constituted under Rev. Dr Supo Samson Ayokunle has done her best in coordinating the various Church blocs, building relationships amongst blocs and beyond, confronting the authorities that be on serious state issues. Undertaking visits to persecuted and displace persons in various IDP camps in Borno, Kaduna, Taraba Yola, Enugu, Benue, Plateau and many other Communities with relieve materials despite lean resources.

We urge committed Christians to pray for the forthcoming Presidential Election of CAN. As it stands, all church groups under CAN are adequately represented amongst the delegates to the election and they should be allowed to vote in line with the wishes of their blocs and consciences. Our prayer and expectation are that the Church should set the standard for credible leadership and elections without rancor.

ON THE STATE OF THE NATION

It is germane for us to reecho on the challenges we have faced as a nation and to also try to raise our voice again on the state of the nation at this point that Nigeria is going into transition of leadership and beginning of term of office by the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of States, Members of the National Assembly and States Assemblies.

May we congratulate the elected leaders to the various position of responsibility that God has placed them. One thing we know as Christians is the fact that God is in charge of the universe and the nations, he gives power to whoever He so wishes and remove whoever he so wishes at any particular point in time. We pray constantly for the welfare and wellbeing of our leaders at all levels.

For some years now, the Church has been deeply concerned about the state of the nation as regard the following:

Level of insecurity of the nation; the increase and expansion of the activities of insurgencies, Armed bandits, Armed robbery, Kidnappers, Killer Fulani Herdsmen seems to have continued unabated. We expect the government to be bold enough to take responsibility and be sincere in providing convincing lasting solutions. The situation whereby the Government will be denying the increasing rate of insecurity while the security budget keeps swelling up with increase in casualties amongst the security operatives, increase in number of victims and cry by communities is worrisome and calls for serious reflections. We advocate further for the creation of state police as the major solutions to ending this communities’ invasions by so called unknown gunmen.

The inability of the Federal Government to ensure the release of Leah Sharibu and other abducted victims of Boko Haram gives us sleeplessness. One of the cardinal promises of President Buhari’s Administration is the end to the reign of terrorism and ensuring the released of captured victims of insurgents but the first tenure ended up without achieving maximally such result.  We pray and hope that President Buhari will do everything within his ability to achieve this goal if he is to be taken more seriously.

on the fight against corruption; while quite a number of Nigerians have been arrested and prosecuted with others undergoing investigation and prosecution, it is not news that a lot of corrupt former and present leaders are moving freely suggesting the selective nature of the fight. It is a shame to our nation and for citizens to believe the notion that when you join the team of the President or the ruling party then “your sins are forgiven”.  The fight against corruption must go beyond media propaganda and be wholistic and no less. 

On planned Fulanization or Islamization: CAN believes that the foundation for Islamisation of Nigeria has since been laid by the makers of the Nigeria Constitution and some previous leaders of Nigeria.  Particular examples are the provisions made in the Constitution for the operation of Sharia laws and Courts. This makes the common law and the sharia law to be operating in the same constitution. This naturally has divided the nation into two and sets the tone for Islamization. The implication of this scenario is confusion. Furthermore, as we have said before, the registration of Nigeria, (a secular state) as a member of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC) by military fiat is a further confirmation of deliberate Islamization of the country. This calls for review if our leaders are sincere with their claim that nobody is islamizing the country.

We commend sincerely the position of the former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for opening up against the planned Islamization of Nigeria. The former President simply repeated what many of our CAN leaders have said before. We had even taken this in written form to the Presidency for immediate attention. If what Obasanjo said should be doubted, what is the justification for the community cleansing by killer Fulani Herdsmen who jump on innocent communities in the night killing them and taking over their communities? We never saw any far reaching steps taken to bring these killer herdsmen to book! What is the justification for the Federal Government effort to create and maintain cattle routes or colony for Fulani herders despite their level of impunity? How can you justify the Federal Government’s establishment of a radio station for Fulani? (Though this is being denied recently that is was established for nomadic education) Why can’t strict security measures that silenced the IPOB in few days be taken against Boko Haram and killer Fulani Herdsmen? We cannot for many years claim that our borders are porous and nothing is done about it. Nigeria cannot afford to be losing her citizens for years because we have an uncontrolled border. We commend Chief Obasanjo’s boldness to speak out at this critical period of the nation. We wonder what will become the fate of Nigeria and Nigerians if respected and bold leaders like Obasanjo are no more there to speak. We call on the Federal Government to take seriously the alarm raised by Chief Obasanjo and act on it if they are to be trusted. Chief Obasanjo has spoken the mind of many people and we urge that he should never be intimidated by government for the sake of peace.

On Appointment into Government: we call on the President to keep his promise of constituting an all-inclusive Government. The appointments of office holders should reflect the Federal Character nature of Nigeria taking into cognizance the appointments of young persons, women and the physically challenged. We have severally called on the Government to overhaul the Security sector of this nation. having almost all military and paramilitary Chiefs coming from the same region and religion is unfair and uncalled for and cannot be accepted.

Workers Welfare: The Federal, State and Local Governments must take the welfare of the workers as a serious concern. Commitment goes with sincerity of purpose. The situation whereby workers are denied their entitlements is worrisome. The scripture says; a laborer is entitled to his/her daily bread. None payment of workers salaries within time and other welfare packages have generated acrimony, insubordination and incessant strike actions in many sectors particularly education. This should not be allowed to continue. Government institutions at all level should take their responsibility seriously particularly as it affects the welfare of their workers.

On Unemployment and Youth Empowerment:  we acknowledge the Federal Government efforts in creating job through Agricultural activities and other entrepreneurship measures. There is a lot that need to be done to provide jobs and means of livelihood for Nigerians. The truth is that Nigerians are suffering and groaning.

On the need for true independents for arms of government:  while we appreciate the stands of the National Assembly and the Judiciary on many issues, we must encourage that the incoming Members of the National Assembly must be bold to stand as the independent arm of government they are. We pray for harmonious working relationship between the three arms but the issue of political party or Executive Arm of Government deciding the leadership of the National Assembly portends danger to our growing democracy. The laws are clear on the election process of Principal Officers of the National Assembly. If leadership is built on transparency, sincerity and people oriented, no arm of Government should be afraid of any arm or its leadership. We encourage the judiciary to purge herself and be firm in taking critical decisions especially those appointed into the various Elections Tribunals as an arm that is solely answerable to God and not man.  No democratic government can succeed without the understanding of roles required by each of the arm.

On welfare Packages to the elderly and retired persons: it is our firm believe that the fear of the unknow is a contributory factor to the rising level of corruption in Nigeria. It is high time Government decides on making concrete arrangements for the aged and retired civil and public servants, military and paramilitary personnel including the aged generally. Doing this will give hope to sincere and prudent Nigerians. We believe that timely payment of retirement packages and pensions to those who have served the nation diligently will put to rest the fear leading to stealing by those serving today. A growing and developing nation like ours must live up to her responsibility of providing for the poor and aged amongst us.  

In conclusion, we have confidence that there will be great improvement in the system of Governance with the new term of office. We believe that the government will be willing to take credible and sincere criticisms from all angles. It is our hope that the game of blaming past administration on many issues will not be heard again and that persons with fresh blood, idea and vision will be constituted to drive the economy and the well-being of our nation at the Federal and States levels.

We call on committed and reasonable Nigerians to pray more for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria and to be willing to speak up on issues that will move our nation forward.

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NATIONAL DIRECTOR, LEGAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN) EVANGELIST BARRISTER KWAMKUR SAMUEL VONDIP ON THE FORTHCOMING CAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE STATE OF THE NATION HELD ON 2ND JUNE, 2019 IN JOS.