Ruffled by the momentum generated by the nomination of Pastor Yemi Osinbajo as General Mohamadu Buhari's running mate, President Goodluck Jonathan is asking a group of Pentecostal pastors to help him avert what he fears could be an impending loss in next month's presidential polls, SaharaReporters reports.
Osinbajo, a prominent cleric with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN emerged APC's presidential running mate last month giving President Jonathan and the ruling party, PDP, what is being described as sleepless nights, by sources.
Specifically last Thursday, the President held a meeting in Abuja, with a number of Pentecostal pastors led by Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, with the main agenda being how to fashion out ways to solve the "Osinbajo" problem.
Sources at the meeting confirmed that President Jonathan confessed in a rather rattled and humbling manner that "Osinbajo is my problem."
According to those at the meeting, the President added that "everything was okay until APC picked Osinbajo."
This is coming against the background of wild speculations that APC is an Islamist party and that General Buhari is a religious fundamentalist-which has become one of the main planks of the PDP presidential campaign. While PDP chieftains and supporters have continued to characterize APC as an Islamist party, APC leaders have consistently dismissed such as unfounded, baseless and a scare tactic by the PDP.
Many observers say the nomination of a prominent Pentecostal pastor from the fastest growing church in Africa by the APC may have effectively doused such speculations and the attempt to label the party as one with an islamization agenda.
There has been a rather conscious attempt to make next month's presidential polls a religious one especially in the Southern part of the country where there is a much larger Christian population, observers say.
At the meeting organized by the Executive Secretary of the National Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) John Kennedy Okpara, President Jonathan poured out his mind that running against a leading Pastor of the RCCG, who is also known to be very close to the much reverred General Overseer of the church, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, is an uphill task.
Sources at the meeting, said Jonathan was ruffled and much distracted as he confessed to the challenge to him, of the APC naming such a person as Osinbajo as General Buhari's running mate.
In response, the Pastors led by Bishop Oyedepo assured the President at the meeting that they would, "starting from today," use every device possible including social media, the pulpit and influence peddling, to campaign in support of President Jonathan and against the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket.
Before the meeting with the President, sources said the pastors held a meeting on the same day to strategize and agree on how and what they would present to the president.
At that pre-meeting, some Pentecostal pastors suggested that they use the opportunity of the meeting afforded by the President to express their genuine fears on growing insecurity in the North with Boko Haram killing and attacking Christians and other innocent Nigerians.
But Bishop David Oyedepo, the most influential pastor at the meeting interrupted the idea, insisting that the meeting was to encourage and strengthen President Jonathan ahead of the elections and not to discuss compelling national issues of concern to majority of Nigerians.
While some of the pastors were shocked and disappointed that Bishop Oyedepo would not allow them to raise important issues bothering most Nigerians, they decided to keep silent not to be seen as spoilsports.
And later after meeting the president, the pastors gathered together again on the same day to device strategies they will use to campaign against Buhari/Osinbajo, with the main scheme being to label the ticket as an Islamist one.
Some of the pastors also suggested that they can influence Christians that the position of Vice President is not an effective one, and that having a Christian hold it makes no difference, although the Nigerian constitution and the order of precedence makes the office the next in rank to the president.
Indeed as if carrying out the resolve, members of the Winners Chapel said Bishop Oyedepo has already started using the pulpit to achieve the goals set out at last Thursday meeting in Abuja.
Some of the members said yesterday Sunday January 18, Bishop Oyedepo raised a prayer point that an Islamist would not become the President of Nigeria in the polls coming next month to the chagrin of many of the church attendants on Sunday.
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so , if this is true, who is now religious bigot. Are they expecting Shekarau, Bafarawa, Muazu etc i.e the Muslims in PDP to quit to APC? . Enough of using religion in politics. Somebody should tell GEJ that religion will not work this time around. I am a muslim and i voted GEJ last time but later the credits goes to the christains as if the Muslims doesnt vote him. If this is not stopped immediately it will destroy the few votes he expect from north because the issue of Boko haram as exposed by OBJ last week has aggrieved the entire north that GEJ knows much about it continued wreckage of havoc in the north. If they tried this formula this time around no single Muslim will vote GEJ because nobody is stupid. We know that GMB is not religious bigotic but PDP is only hypocritical. Majority of the present serving ministers are Christians, the DGs, and even some of ones that are northern extract, even in the army as well, nobody cry foul that it is christianisation of Nigeria. We the muslims are very much aware of how the country Cameroon that are majorly muslims but always governed by the fewer christians. Lets remove religion from politics. OBJ was a christain and he never used religion as a tool.
ReplyDeleteThe meeting is a wrong one. Jonathan is not a Christian. He cannot use us christian to achieve his already failed dream. We will vote GMB massively and he decided to islamis this country which he will not do, we will all carry gun and kill each other. God bless Nigeria
ReplyDeletehehehehe@ carry gun and kill each other! My brother that's a very risky experiment oh, crying when the head is already gone. Please I beg you in the name of Almighty God don't even think of such experiment, we better vote the jihadist out, its APC's fault, they should have given us a better candidate.
DeleteMinisters of God, please beware. Why cant you hand over all to God, seek His face rather than being partisan. May the Lord guide our leaders-secular and religious aright in Jesus name.
ReplyDeleteGod himself will give us a leader no matter the western support or what any man does.
ReplyDeleteDis is very sad story, dis is quite unfortunate, pple claimin 2 b wise and civilise but deceive by someone dey know and believed hv failed his pple, if nigerians ar all christians would dey allow GEJ 2 continue? there ar muslims who ar wit gej would dey leave hin 4 dis case? pls put nigeria first, how can someone believe 2 b litterate and stil beliv dat buhari wovld islamatise nigeria? pls if u cannot b positiv leave nigeria alone.
ReplyDeleteThis report is a big fat lie. Nigerian eye is own by APC. Big lie.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a lie the concern authority should come out and debunk it,i can't believe a man of can be doing this ,this is unfortunate
ReplyDeleteAnd he will ever b your problem take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteThis report is tainted with falsehoods. Bishop Oyedepo will never stoop so low.
ReplyDeletePity to sahara. APC propaganda
ReplyDeleteNigerianeye, you will lose customers because of this election. all your write-ups are one sided.
ReplyDeleteHey readers, any news source from sahara reporters cum NE should be thoroughly examined because sahara is purely and singlehandedly owned by APC. Everything said there are all lies and God will judge them.
ReplyDeleteIs bishop God? He is human because he preaches doesn't make him a saint and its high time Nigerians drop this religious rubbish and face facts for the sake of our country and as a Christian that I am I 100 percent trust that GMB will do right by the country and the so called GEJ going to church doesn't make him a christian wake up people if not GEJ will sell that country under your nose
ReplyDeleteIs it also a lie that members of Winners Chapel went to church with their voters' card last Sunday? If it is not; then I see a connection between the meeting with the President and the General Overseer's position at that meeting. Men of God are becoming partisan and playing politics with their calling. Members of their congregationn had rather open their eyes and be wise. Remember the stories they fed us with after visiting the ailing late President Umary Musa Yar Adua. What do you expect, Oyedepo has a lot of interest to protect. At least to shield his 2 private universities and many other things. Beware of the clergies parading the corridors of power.
ReplyDeleteI was there on Sunday for the four services and Oyedepo never mentioned such. Yes! He told us to bring our pvc to use it as a point of contact in praying for the peace of Nigeria and peaceful elections.
DeleteAm a member of Living Faith Church and there was no time the Bishop asked the church to pray against islamist becoming a President of NIGERIA. We only pray against agent of the Devil will not come on throne at any level of Government and the Bishop talked about any one trying to Islamised Nigeria, that is not going to happen and is an attempt to thrown the Nation into War.Kindly clarified all social media report before commenting and better still don't comment
ReplyDeleteShioor
ReplyDeleteIn as much that I am Christian but as God liveth,as for me and my household we will vote for GMB if I have the chance to vote a million times.Nigerian eye pls be very careful before you are consumed bcos,I am sure Bishop will not be careless enuf to publicly and openly declare his passion for any political party or candidiate bcos a lot of people in the church belong to these parties under question.....thus Nebucadezzar must leave dt seat..Ire oooo
ReplyDeletewhich Nebuchadnezzar? you a Christian? calling a man in authority names? plzzz tell me you are a jihadist and I will believe you! Christians don't talk like idiots and there's no violence in our blood. blind christen!
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