The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says either the next Senate
\nPresident or Speaker of the House of Representatives should be a Christian
\nto correct \u201cthe religious dichotomy\u201d in the national political leadership.<\/p>\n
The CAN president, Samson Ayokunle, made the demand in a statement signed
\nby Adebayo Oladeji, his special assistant, Media and Communications, on
\nMonday in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Mr Ayokunle urged the incoming leadership of the National Assembly to
\nensure religious and ethnic balance in the selection of officers as
\nenshrined in the 1999 Constitution, to avoid marginalisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you prepare for your inauguration, CAN urges you to balance the
\nappointments of your Principal Officers across religious divides.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is to avoid domination and marginalisation of any kind in the
\ninterest of equity, justice, and fair play as enshrined in the 1999
\nConstitution (as amended).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), recognise the
\nimportance of the National Assembly to the stability and growth of our
\npolity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is in this regard that we call for ethnic and religious balance with
\ndepth in picking the leadership of that great institution of democracy,\u201d
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Mr Ayokunle said doing this would go a long way to remove any apprehension
\nand suspicion harboured towards the leadership of the country.<\/p>\n
According to the cleric, \u201cthough the Senate and the House of
\nRepresentatives have several principal officers, our focus here is on the
\nSenate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker and the Deputy
\nSpeaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it has been the practice since 1999, whenever the Senate President is
\na Christian, the Speaker of the House has always been a Muslim and
\nvice-versa. And the same thing happens to their deputies,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
He said the quest of the association becomes imperative due to the
\nexisting order in the two other arms of the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, both the President and the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria are
\nMuslims and our appeal is to let either the Senate President or the
\nSpeaker be a Christian to address the religious dichotomy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will give all Nigerians a sense of belonging irrespective of their
\nreligious affiliations. And a critical study of Chapter 14 (13 and 14) of
\nthe 1999 Constitution (As Amended) underscores this truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe composition of Government of the Federation or any of its agencies
\nand the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to
\nreflect federal character of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso the need to promote national unity, command national loyalty,
\nthereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few
\nstates or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in government or in
\nany of its agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe composition of the government of a state, local government council,
\nor any of the agencies of such government or council, and conduct of
\naffairs of government or council or such agencies, shall be carried out in
\nsuch manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of
\nauthority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among
\nall the people,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
The CAN president, therefore, called on the 9th National Assembly members
\nto address both the religious, the North and South dichotomies in the
\ninterest of equity, justice and fair play.<\/p>\n
He assured the lawmakers of the association\u2019s prayers as they make laws
\nfor peace, order and good government.<\/p>\n
Mr Ayokunle pleaded with both the Presidency and the leadership of the
\nruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to support the position of the
\nassociation in its quest to find an enduring peace, unity and development
\nof the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy so doing, it will go a long way in fixing some of the problems
\nconfronting our country today that are rooted in religious, tribal
\nsuspicion, domination and marginalisation at every level of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn as much as we agree that merit should not be sacrificed in every
\nappointment, but there are Christians, who are equally credible and
\ncapable of running the affairs of the National Assembly and other key
\npositions in the government if given the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who had and still serving in one office or the other are our living
\nproofs,\u201d he said. (NAN)<\/p>\n
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says either the next Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives should be a Christian to correct \u201cthe religious dichotomy\u201d in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n