PASTORS IN ABUJA WANT CHRISTIAN SPEAKER AND SENATE PRESIDENT

On Tuesday, a delegation of pastors and bishops from Abuja urged the All Progressive Congress and newly elected federal parliamentarians to uphold the principles of equality and balance in the leadership of the tenth National Assembly by electing Christians to the positions of Speaker of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Since the president and vice president are both Christians, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate must also be Christians, according to the pastors who operate under the Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leadership umbrella.

This was stated in a statement that Apostle Babatunde Oguntimehin, the coalition’s president, signed.

As its consensus candidate for Senate presidency in the 10th Assembly, the APC has named Senator Godwin Akpabio, the recently-retired Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

Senator Jibrin Barau was chosen by the ruling party to serve as the next vice president of the senate.

Oguntimehin reiterates that they overcame all odds to support Tinubu’s and Kashim Shettima’s bids for president and vice president, respectively, in the 2023 presidential election in the statement released on Wednesday.

On November 6, 2022, the pastors endorsed Bola Tinubu, then-president-elect of the country and presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress. He had been characterized as possessing the proper mindset for national leadership.

Before choosing Tinubu due to his past, they highlighted that as proponents of power transition, they had to choose between him and Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party.

Since the Vice President and the President are both members of the same religion, Oguntimehin stated that the equation needs to be balanced.

“We as a group of pastors have come to demand that the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President must be Christians as the Vice President and President are of the same religion. The equation needs to be balanced. We want to request that the APC and the newly elected parliamentarians pay attention to this, according to Oguntimehin.

However, the coalition president stated that they do not endorse anyone for the job of National Assembly speaker and instead ask for equity and fairness, adding that “They (federal lawmakers and the APC) must give hope to the Nigerian Christians.”