A former national president, youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) and co-chairman of the Interfaith Coalition Conference, Daniel Kadzai, has criticized religious leaders, especially those on the Christian side, for turning their pulpits into podiums for campaign. of the 2023 general elections.
He warned that it was wrong for leaders to publicly declare their support for a candidate, insisting that such antics could backfire on Christians if their projected candidate fails.
Speaking to the DAILY POST on New Year’s Eve, Kadzai also took the opportunity to criticize President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying that despite the high price of rice and other food, Nigerians were still able to celebrate their festive season. .
According to him, Nigerians should be hopeful that 2023 will bring them the best in terms of good leadership. He insists that there have been bad leaders on both the Christian and Muslim sides, telling church leaders to slow down when pushing a candidate.
“These religious leaders, especially the church, need to stop misleading their members. If what they propose fails, it will backfire on their members. So it is better for them to stay neutral, especially since the pulpit is to be used for the purpose of salvation where they preach love, peace and unity. It shouldn’t be a political spree or political gathering,” he said.
“Despite the challenges this country is facing, God has been faithful and everyone celebrated Christmas and New Years in peace. God put these evil rulers to shame and even though the price of rice is almost N50,000 now Nigerians were able to buy it. No one said they didn’t have something to eat.
“The religious feeling that is played among us with some churches that publicly declare themselves in favor of a candidate. Like taking Peter Obi to church and all that, what if he fails? And if he loses the elections? Some come up with Tinubu, saying that it is a Muslim Muslim candidacy, but the same people who kick against the Muslim Muslim candidacy continue to meet Tinubu at the CAN headquarters”.
He noted that some of those criticizing Bola Tinubu for his Muslim-Muslim ticket choice are the same people who are meeting with the All Progressives Congress, the APC candidate in the national Secretariat of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.
“The same people who condemn him are at the same time holding meetings with him at the CAN Secretariat. What kind of integrity are we talking about?
“Let’s forget about religious sentiment and look for a candidate who will save the situation in this country and provide a good government for our people. Someone who can unite this country.
“When you talk about bad leadership, we have bad leadership between Christians and Muslims. We have Christians who were bad leaders in the country and we also have them among the Muslims.
“So when you accuse someone, you just have to know that something happened before. If the Christian vote alone could bring a president to power, Jonathan would not have lost the 2015 election because they were provided with everything that was needed to win the election, but we lost,” he said.
