Apostle Johnson Suleiman, the Senior Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries
(OFM), with headquaters in Auchi, Edo State and President of Celebration
TV has rained curses on Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, over his
directive that pastors and churches must be licenced to preach.
In a video that is being circulated on social media (click to watch video
here), he warned the governor: “Revoke your law or die!”
Recently, Governor El-Rufai sent a bill to the State House of Assembly to
regulate religious preaching across the state. The bill titled: “A bill
for a law to substitute the Kaduna State religious preaching law, 1984” is
also aimed at banning the usage of loudspeaker for religious purposes
“other than inside a Mosques or Church and the surrounding areas outside
the stipulated prayer times.”
Government wanted the Assembly to enact the law that will stop the playing
or circulating of “all cassettes, CDs, flash drives or any other
communication gadgets containing religious recordings from accredited
preachers other than inside one’s house, porch, Church, Mosques and other
designated place of worship.”
The bill seeks to ban sales or playing of any cassette containing
“religious recordings in which abusive language is used against any person
or religious organisation or religious leaders (past or present).”
The bill, if pasted into law, will prohibit sales of religious books,
usage of abusive and derogatory terms in describing any religion.
The bill propose that any person found guilty of preaching without a valid
licence and other offences under the law “shall be liable to two years in
prison or pay a fine of N200, 000.”
Although Pastor Suleiman did not oppose sanitising the state in many
areas, he was angry about the issue of “preaching by licence.”
Suleiman said further that there were men of God before El-Rufai was
governor and there will be men of God after he leaves. “Why not tell
herbalists to obtain licence before they practise their herbalism? Why not
tell witches that they need licence to fly?”, the pastor asked
rhetorically.
He added that asking a pastor to obtain licence is against the
Constitution of Nigeria, “When you say licence, you are acting against
freedom of worship”. He asked the governor to stay off his plan, “unless
you want your cabinet to reduce…people may just sleep without waking up”.