CAN asks National Assembly to elect a Christian as Senate President or House Speaker

CAN asks National Assembly to elect a Christian as Senate President or House Speaker

[html]The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the newly-elected lawmakers of the National Assembly to elect a Christian as the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives.
   
   
   
       
       
           
               
                   

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the newly-elected lawmakers of the National Assembly to elect a Christian as the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives.

               
           
               
                   

In a statement signed by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to CAN president, Reverend (Dr.) Samson Ayokunle, the religious organisation said electing a Christian as a principal officer in the legislature will provide religious balance to the nation's leadership.

               
           
               
                   

                                   

CAN president, Rev. Samson Ayokunle [Premium Times]

               

               
           
               
                   

The organisation noted that President Muhammadu Buhari, the head of the executive arm of government, and acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammed, who's the head of the judiciary arm, are both Muslims.

               
           
               
                   

The statement said electing a capable Christian as a principal officer in the legislature will give all Nigerians a sense of belonging and reflect the country's federal character.

               
           
               
                   

The statement read, "As you prepare for your inauguration, CAN urges you to balance the appointments of your principal officers across religious divides to avoid domination and marginalisation of any kind in the interest of equity, justice, and fair play as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

               
           
               
                   

"We, from the Christian Association of Nigeria, recognise the importance of the National Assembly to the stability and growth of our polity. It is in this regard that we call for ethnic and religious balance with depth in picking the leadership of that great institution of democracy. To ensure that this happens is to remove any apprehension and suspicion harbored towards the leadership of this country.

               
           
               
                   

"Although both the Senate and the House of Representatives have several principal officers, our focus here are the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. As it has been the practice since 1999, whenever the Senate President is a Christian, the Speaker of the House has always been a Muslim and vice- versa. And the same thing happens to their deputies.

               
           
               
                   

"Our quest becomes imperative due to the existing order in the two other arms of the government. Today, both the President and the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria are Muslims and our appeal is to let either the Senate President or the Speaker be a Christian to address the religious dichotomy.