A group of pastors and bishops from Abuja visited Federal lawmakers-elect and the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Tuesday, urging them to promote a sense of balance and equity in the leadership of the 10th National Assembly by appointing Christians as the Speaker of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The pastors, organized under the Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leadership, emphasized that since the President and Vice-President are of the same religion, it is important for Christians to hold the positions of Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President.
This statement was released by the coalition’s president, Apostle Babatunde Oguntimehin.
In line with this, the APC had already announced the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godwin Akpabio, as its consensus candidate for the Senate presidency in the 10th Assembly.
The ruling party also adopted Senator Jibrin Barau as the next Deputy Senate President.
In the statement on Wednesday, Oguntimehin reiterates they defied the odds and stood to support the candidature of Tinubu and his Kashim Shettima as President and Vice-President, respectively in the 2023 presidential election.
According to a reports, the pastors has earlier expressed their support for Bola Tinubu, who was the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at that time. It is noteworthy that Tinubu is currently serving as the President of the country.
The pastors described Tinubu as possessing the appropriate mindset and qualities to govern the nation effectively.
They noted that as advocates of power shift, they were left with the option of Tinubu and the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi before they settled for the former because of his antecedents.
Oguntimehin said that there is a need to balance the equation since the Vice President and President are of the same religion.
“We as a group of pastors have come to demand that since the Vice President and President are of the same religion, we hereby demand that the speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President must be occupied by Christians. There is a need to balance the equation. We want to appeal to the lawmakers elect and the APC to take cognisance of this,” Oguntimehin said.
The coalition president, however, noted that they are not supporting any candidate for the speakership position of the National Assembly but call for equity and fairness, adding that “They (federal lawmakers and the APC) must give hope to the Nigerian Christians.”
