Muslim - Muslim Ticket: CAN dissociates itself from Tinubu endorsement

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has distanced itself from the endorsement of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, by the Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leaders.

The Deputy National Chairman, Bishop Don Daniel, while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, said members of the coalition have the free will to endorse any candidate of their choice, adding that it has nothing to do with PFN.

He said, “The pastors endorsing Tinubu do not change our stance as a bloc of CAN in supporting credible candidates. We still stand on the same agreement and injunction that CAN has given. Everybody is not part of CAN. They chose to and everybody is entitled to their own free will.

“They cannot force anybody to follow them to do what they have decided to do. So if they said they had endorsed a candidate, that is purely their own doing. Everybody has a right and choice of who they want to vote for. It has nothing to do with us.”

Daniel also reiterated the position of PFN on the Muslim-Muslim ticket saying it has not changed.

He said, “We have not changed our stance because we are still part of CAN and we are still frowning at the Muslim-Muslim ticket. We believe that the church can vote for people that are credible and competent. And you know that our president made a press conference recently and he clarified that we are looking for people to move the country forward. And if a Muslim is credible to take the nation forward, we will vote for him.

“The church frowned at the Muslim-Muslim ticket, but it is not a dead end and we are still praying. We have not been able to come up with something definite or specific to say that this is who everybody should vote for. The election is still about three months away. Who knows if the church through CAN can come up with a resolution. But our stance still remains.”

Daniel, however, clarified that the audience he had with Tinubu was a meeting and not an endorsement as alleged.

The cleric urged Nigerians to take responsibility by getting their PVCs and be strategically prepared to vote for credible leaders that would take the nation forward and unite the country on all fronts.

He also disclosed that the fellowship visited Bayelsa and Kogi states to donate some relief items to flood victims in a bid to alleviate their sufferings.

He added that the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Shimon Ben-Shoshan, paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the fellowship where they had a mutual discussion on immigration and agriculture.


FI