The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has denied reaching any agreement with the flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket for the upcoming 2023 Elections.
In a statement, signed by CAN’s Special Assistant on Media, Luminous Jannamike, the Christian group refuted a report claiming that there was an agreement between Tinubu and CAN, stating that it has not changed its position on the contentious matter.
The statement with the title; ‘Muslim-Muslim Ticket: CAN maintains its position’ noted that Tinubu’s presence and donation at occasion of the 70th birthday of Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, cannot be considered as a financial inducement to appease Christians in the country
Recall that a report on Monday claimed that Tinubu met with the leadership of CAN over the controversy that arose after the APC Presidential candidate selected a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima as his running mate, a decision which angered the Christian faithful in the country.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria has been drawn to a media report titled, ‘How Tinubu met, resolved Muslim-Muslim ticket with CAN’, which claimed that the apex Christian body had changed its position regarding the same faith ticket.
“To say the least, the story is ridiculous, malicious, untrue and should be disregarded in its entirety by all reasonable members of the society.
“For the records, CAN took a position against the same faith ticket imbroglio under the leadership of Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle, its immediate past national president and as a matter of fact, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Okoh, stands on that same position.”
The Christian umbrella body strongly condemned the attempt to misconstrue Tinubu’s presence at Kukah’s birthday celebration in Abuja, stating that the event was public as friends of the celebrant and other kind hearted Nigerians donated to the building of The Kukah Centre.
“The donations, which went directly to The Kukah Centre, have nothing to do with CAN. It is therefore mischievous to insinuate it was a sort of bribe money for Christian leaders to make a u-turn on its stance against the same faith ticket.
“For the umpteenth time, the CAN reiterates that it is non-partisan, but remains willing to partner with all leaders and other relevant stakeholders towards achieving unity, peace and progress in our nation,” the statement said.” The statement read.
CAN, however, stated that it respects their rights of the politicians to reach conclusions on issues that affect their electoral fortunes so long as they accord with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Electoral Act (2022).
The Kukah Centre is intended to be a display place to promote the ideals of democracy and responsible leadership through research and intellectualism.
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