Northern Christian Elders To Amaechi: Mention Pastors That Allegedly Collected N6bn

The Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF), has urged the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to mention the church leaders who he alleged collected N6billion from politicians to support a particular presidential candidate.

The elders promised to avoid and excommunicate such leaders should Amaechi mention them.

NOSCEF’s chair, Elder Olaiya Phillips, in a statement at the weekend, also condemned any agenda to induce voters based on religious sentiments.

Phillips said: “The debasement alleged is of the gravest kind. What he alleges, if true, would be a serious indictment of our brethren and he has a duty to reveal what he knows.

“We believe that the choice Nigeria’s elections present must be about the best person for the job in every case, rather than about a candidate’s religion”.

He added that it would be “unconscionable” for pastors to receive such alleged inducement “at a time in which the needs of our brethren, especially the many displaced and dispossessed in the north, requires every kobo that can be deployed in amelioration”.

Urging the Rivers governor, who is also Director General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organization, to name the alleged pastors, Phillips argued: “He must conclude what he has begun and advise which individuals parading as men of God have fallen in this manner.

“We are anxious to know who these offenders are so that we may avoid them. It would then be incumbent on the umbrella bodies under whose auspices these ‘Pastors collected N6bn’ to proceed to investigate any such acts of which prima facie evidence is provided”.