The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has called on Nigerians to reject and sack divisive politicians during the forthcoming general elections.
National Secretary of PFN, Apostle Emmanuel Kure, made the call during the weekend at the 18th Southern Kaduna Prayer Summit which held in Kafanchan, Kaduna state.
In what may be described as a protest call against the unabated killings in some parts of the country, especially Southern Kaduna, Kure accused politicians of mounting psychological barriers in the minds of the people with the sole aim of deepening the mutual suspicion and hate between the Hausa/Fulani dominated Northern Kaduna and the minority tribes of the Southern part of the state.
He said: “There’s a fearful wall of division between the Northern and Southern parts of Kaduna that might explode into a civil war in the future, if the government does not do something about it.
“Any government that assumes power this year must break that wall of of division, because there is mutual suspicion between the two zones that is fuelling a lot of unhealthy hatred among the people.
“We must not make the mistake of voting people who will further divide us as a nation. Any government that is coming in 2019, must seat with our people and hear our hearts’ grievances. If they fail to negotiate with us over our future, we will not vote for them.
“We want to tell all politicians coming to power in the next dispensation that they are supposed to form a government for both those who will vote for, or against them.
“If the present governor cannot do so, we must bring a new government within the next six weeks,” he stated.
The Kafanchan-based cleric also expressly condemned the perceived marginalization and bias against the Christian-dominated Southern Kaduna by both the federal and state governments, saying “Since I was born till now, Southern Kaduna has not changed. It is only the roads that have changed.
“Till date, there are no industries here. The only federal presence in the zone came through the rigorous lobbying of the parliamentarians we had in the last administration.
“We (Southern Kaduna) are the only people in the world that have gone through seven months of curfew in one year, because they describe us as troublesome people. Out of the seven months, we are also the only people who went through 24 hours curfew for about three months put together.
“If the present government must come back, it must reassure us we are never going to experience such prolonged restrictions and difficulties.”
On the controversial issue of restructuring, Apostle Kure, the Founder/General Overseer of Throneroom (Trust) ministry, said: “We have a message for the politicians, if there is a restructuring, you must strategically give us our own state. If it economic, you must take stock of all the things that we lack and make sure that Southern Kaduna is developed within the next four years.”
While urging the people to eschew activities that could mar the credibility of the 2019 general elections, he warned political leaders against disrespecting clerics and traditional rulers in pursuit of their ambitions.
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