By Adadainfo
It has become very necessary at this point to clear the air and make clarifications on the different endorsements of Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party.
Some months ago, Christian leaders from the northern states publicly endorsed and declared their support to the candidacy of MrbPeter Obi. And just last week some group of leaders of Christians also grouped themselves at Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, to issue a communique purportedly endorsing Atiku on behalf of the Christians.
It is therefore very necessary at this juncture to give the clear distinction of the two endorsements so that Christians (Body of Christ) will not be confused, which of course is the main calculation of the Atiku endorsers.
NOTE that Obi was endorsed by Christian Leaders from the Northern States, and those are Christians leading Christians, most of them are heading churches. Many of them are general overseers. They’re heading and controlling big congregations of Christians. These were the Christian leaders and Christian body that endorsed and are still endorsing the Peter Obi-Baba Ahmed Datti Candidacies.
While on the other hand, Atiku Abubakar was endorsed by a group of leaders of Christians. Leaders of Christians in most cases are not even Christians but somehow they are leading Christians. They neither have churches nor control congregations. These are the group of people that recently endorsed Atiku, just almost in a manner of the Tinubu-APC bishops.
We must understand that as the elections are drawing very close and campaigns intensify, politicians are also becoming more desperate. Some of them as a result of a well-known anxiety are employing unorthodox means in order to emerge victorious.
Going through the purported communique issued by the leaders of Christians that endorsed Atiku, you will clearly see and understand that it was a packaged group of self-serving individuals seeking political relevance. Their reasons for opting for Atiku are very incoherent and do not show that they are a serious group that has the interest of the masses of Nigeria at heart, than to achieve their personal goals and interest using the name of Church.
Note that these people may be members of one Christian church or the other, and of course politicians but are not by any means Christian leaders since they neither head churches nor control any Christian congregations, therefore cannot speak for the churches.
Their group/forum is being created by the desperate Atiku and PDP, as a parallel body to the Northern States Christian Leaders Forum. This action of the PDP is akin to the Tinubu-APC bishops, which was also born out of desperation to dispell the agitations generated by the Muslim-Muslim tick of Tinubu and Shettima.
The reality on ground is that the APC and its PDP counterparts are desperately depressed and are seriously threatened by the various endorsements of the Obi-Datti candidacies by the Nigerian youths and the Christian keaders across the country. Hence we have to come out to clear the mix-up and put things in right perspectives.
There is a clear difference between the Christian leaders who endorsed Obi and the leaders of Christians that endorsed Atiku.
Hon Charles Anike, National President of Eastern Union (EU), wrote from Ala Igbo
