Pick A Christian As Senate President Or House Of Reps Speaker – CAN Writes NASS

Pick A Christian As Senate President Or House Of Reps Speaker’, CAN Writes National Assembly

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.”

[quote]The
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on the leadership of
the National Assembly to elect a Christian as the Senate President or
Speaker of the House of Representatives to reflect religious balance.

A
statement issued by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media
and Communications) to Reverend (Dr.) Samson Ayokunle, the CAN
President, on Monday, noted that the President and the acting Chief
Justice of Nigeria (CJN) are Muslims.

CAN, therefore, urged the
National Assembly leadership to consider electing Christians into the
number one positions of the red and green chambers to give all Nigerians
a sense of belonging.

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, recognize 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. This
will give all Nigerians a sense of belonging irrespective of their
religious affiliations.

And a critical study of Chapter 14 (13
and 14) of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) underscores this truth.
The composition of the government of the federation or any of its
agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a
manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to
promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby
ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few state
or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in
any of its agencies.

“The composition of the government of a
state, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such
Government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government
or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to
recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and
the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the
people of the federation.”

The association also called on the
Ninth National Assembly members to “address both the religious and the
North and South dichotomies in the interest of equity, justice and fair
play”, while assuring lawmakers of their prayers “as they make laws for
the peace, order and good government of the federation”.

On the
present administration, the statement continued: “We also urge both the
Presidency and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC) to support the position of the Association in its quest to find an
enduring peace, unity and development for our Fatherland. Doing this
will go a long way in fixing some of the problems confronting our
country today that are rooted in religious, tribal suspicion, domination
and marginalisation at every level of the government.

“In as
much as we agree that merit should not be sacrificed in every
appointment, there are Christians, who are equally credible and capable
of running the affairs of the National Assembly and other key positions
in the government if given the opportunity. Those who had and still
serving in one office or the other are our living proofs.

“Once
again, we rejoice with you and congratulate you all. We give you the
assurance of our spiritual support to this all important arm of the
government. CAN is also willing and ready to collaborate with the
Leadership of the National Assembly when the need arises.

Source:- Saharareporters