MATTERS ARISING: Pastor Enenche Calls For Arrest Of ‘Bishops’ That Attended Shettima’s Unveiling

…Tunde Bakare, MURIC Speaks On CAN

The Senior Pastor of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Paul Enenche, has called for the arrest of the persons who were recognized as bishops during the official unveiling of Kashim Shettima, the running mate of the All Progressive Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

During the unveiling on July 20, Shettima had paid “tributes to the 30 bishops of Christian faith” who graced the ceremony.

He said they came to show solidarity with the APC.

Afterwards, the Christian Association of Nigeria disassociated itself from those recognized by Shettima.

The association accused the APC of hiring some unknown ‘bishops, pastors and priests’ to impersonate the leadership of CAN amid its position against political parties fielding presidential candidates and running mates of same religion.

Reacting to the development in a video on his official Facebook page , Enenche backed CAN’s position on those persons recognized by the APC at the event, calling for their arrest and prosecution for impersonation.

He also alleged that they were sponsored by the APC politicians.

He said during his sermon in Jos, “There is a contest going on in this country now where some criminals paraded themselves as bishops. I’m sure you saw them, that is the level to which criminal leadership of this country has descended into.

“You see, like beget like. Those who sent them are like them, that is impersonation of the highest order and they should be arrested and tried.

“That’s how bankrupt of mentality, bankrupt of capacity and bankrupt of any leadership ability, this people who want to rule, that is what they carry. You want to cheat, lie to lead and your platform has led for seven to eight years.”

Following CAN’s stand, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) accused the association of ‘living in self-denial, insisting that the people acknowledged as clerics were not faking it.

It however cited a media report which reported that 3 of the clerics were genuine, but THE WHISTLER exclusive video on them showed they were much higher in number.

MURIC reacted in a statement on Friday, “The identities of all the Christian clerics who attended the event have been revealed and none is fake. It is crystal clear from the above that CAN is not to be trusted. CAN disowns its own members who are not ordinary Christians but knowledgeable bishops and pastors. This shows that a caucus within the leadership of CAN has unleashed tyranny of the oligarchy on Christendom in Nigeria.

“The fact that several bishops and pastors dared CAN by attending the unveiling of the APC running mate in spite of directives by the umbrella Christian body to the contrary is also symptomatic of the hypocrisy and ineffectiveness of CAN’s noise over the Muslim-Muslim ticket. It is a toothless bulldog. CAN is long in rhetorics, short in facts. It also proves that serious-minded and knowledgeable Christians who can differentiate between right and wrong no longer follow CAN’s instructions.”

In another development, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the president of the Citadel Global Community Church, Lagos debunked what he described as a concocted and ridiculous statement online which credited him to have said that CAN can’t blackmail the APC regarding the Muslim-muslim ticket and that ‘CAN are politicians who behave like PDP.’

He also denied endorsing Tinubu as his candidate for the 2023 presidential election.

Bakare, who was a presidential aspirant at the APC convention, denied making such remarks about CAN.

“I wish to state unequivocally that it is a fabrication in its entirety and as such should be completely disregarded. I did not at any time grant an interview, or preach on any platform, where I shared such views.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I am a nation builder who will not in any way create real or imaginary tensions or divisions among the people of our great country through the medium of political parties or religion.

“Again, the statement did not originate from me and does not in any way represent my position. It is part of the lying propaganda of mischievous entities seeking approval by deceit. If the peddlers of this deliberate falsehood fail to desist from their highly condemnable acts, they will face the fullest extent of the law without further delay,” the cleric stated in a rebuttal on Friday.