Dr. Samson Ayokunle, the immediate past president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, has counselled clerics engaged in party politics to resign from their pastoral responsibilities.
In an interview with Saturday Punch, the clergyman who offered this counsel said that the role of the minister as the leader of the church was to preach the gospel to the people, not to get involved in party politics.
Ayokunle spoke after some Nigerian priests became more active in politics in preparation for the general election of 2023.
While some people run for political office, others publicly endorsing their favoured candidates.
READ ALSO: Wike Challenges Niger Delta Governors To Account For 13% Oil Derivation Backlog Buhari Paid
Recall that Nicholas Felix, a Nigerian pastor of Miracle Church headquartered in the US, and Pastor Tunde Bakare, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, paid N100m apiece to secure forms for the APC’s presidential ticket.
At a recent press conference, a delegation of pastors and bishops from Abuja backed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential contender, as their preferred choice for the 2023 presidential election.
In response, the former CAN president disapproved of the action, claiming that the clerics made the choice against their own interests because they did so without consulting the CAN leadership.
While denouncing religious leaders who support political politicians, he added that “CAN is not a partisan organisation” and that such persons were doing so at their own expense.
“If they want to practise politics, let them resign from the pulpit, because to be partisan is to have a preference, and in a church where you are a leader, you have people from all the political parties there.
“Once you have chosen one political party above the other, you have divided the church. It is not a sinful thing for them to participate in politics, but they have to leave the pulpit.”
