Leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in conjunction with those of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, had a meeting yesterday with a view to repositioning the church in Nigeria under the current political dispensation in the county.
The meeting, which was held behind closed-doors, was attended by the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, his PFN counterpart, Dr. Felix Omobude, and the PFN Vice President for South South, Bishop Simeon Okah, who hosted the parley among other leaders of both Christian bodies.
Security personnel, apparently acting under instructions, denied media men entry to the meeting venue, just as the CAN President hurried out of the venue, rebuffing moves by journalists to have him talk to them on the outcome of the meeting.
The host of the meeting, Bishop Okah however told Vanguard that, “I won’t go into details but in a nutshell, the elections that had just taken place, the economy and the post transition security situation in the country are some of the key issues why we decided to meet.
“We expected that after the elections, Boko Haram would have subsided. We are aware of the challenges with the economy. All we are looking for is peace in Nigeria. The ministry is broad and we said let’s put hands together and be focused on what we want. It is obvious we shall be meeting a little more often.”
Okah noted that it might be too early to start approving or condemning President Muhammadu Buhari and his leadership, adding that Nigerians need to give him time.
“We have a tradition in Nigeria, the first 100 days. After that, some of us will come out. We would talk. We have heard interviews of those who voted for him 90 percent and those who voted five percent. We expect that as an old man, he will not do a thing that will create chaos.
“I say to both Muslims and Christians, Buhari is our president and we should all back him, cooperate with him. Those who will give suggestions should be objective, not the type they were giving to President Goodluck Jonathan,” he added.
Speaking about the scourge of corruption, he said much of what is being seen now is all talks and no action, noting that until people are tried and convicted and penalties commensurate with what they had stolen awarded, there was very little to cheer about the anti-corruption posture of the government at the moment.
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