Chairman of Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF), Ejoga Inalegwu, has said that Christians in the north will be rendered irrelevant in the political equation of Nigeria if the same faith presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) succeeds in 2023.
Inalegwu stated this in his address at the congress meeting of the forum which held on Saturday in Kaduna.
He called on lovers of a united Nigeria to reject politics of exclusion that is mindful of regional balance but insensitive to faith inclusion.
He called on Christians to kill the same faith ticket in the 2023 elections or rendered themselves irrelevant in future.
Inalegwu said, “Unpatriotic politicians will use any formula they can apply to win election, whether it hurts or not and promise to placade as APC is doing after all the pleas.
“They will discard any formula that makes them loose election in the future.
“Make the single faith ticket unattractive for the future, by killing it now or render yourselves forever an irrelevant commodity in the election equation for the future”.
According to him, “people easily persuaded by personal and selfish gains to the destruction of the body will be a Judas to the Christendom.
“Let us be men and women of principles and loyalty to God.
“We enjoin all lovers of Nigeria across faith to reject the single faith ticket to frustrate politics of exclusion that is mindful of regional balance but insensitive to faith inclusion”.
He lamented the security challenges in the north which had taken toll on the activities of the forum.
Guest speaker at the occasion. Prof. Josiah Onaolapo, said the 2023 election is a threat to the political viability of northern Christians.
He called on the Northern Christians to take their “destiny in their hands or be wiped out politically.”
“We must mobilise our people to vote in the 2023 as if our lives depend on it.
“If you allow the door to close against northern Christians, the door will be closed forever.
“There is no state in the north that does not have about 30 per cent of Christians in including Sokoto and Zamfara states.
“What are we doing with our population? It is time to use our number to bring about political change”, Onaolapo said.
According to him, “It is a known fact that Muslims in the north will always vote for their brothers.
“Unfortunately, I have seen that when it is the turn of the north to get the Presidential slot, Christians will gravitate around northern Muslims.
“When it is time for the south, we gravitate around Southern Christians. Is it not a shame?
“Does it mean we don’t have Christians in the north that can be president?
“A party said that Northern Christians are politically worthless in Nigeria, that was why they choose another Muslim as Vice Presidential candidate.
“Do you blame them? The answer is that they see you as purchasable.
“The 2023 elections is a threat to political viability of the northern Christians. We must mobilise our people as if our lives depend on it.
“If you allow the door to close against northern Christians, the door is closed forever.
If we allow the door to be closed against Christians in Kaduna, the door is closed forever.
“Northern Christians must take their destiny in their hands, if not, they will be wipe out politically. The political equation in Nigeria will be wipe out.
“Northern Christians will sit down and complain that they are being discriminated against and are being denied opportunities, why will they not deny you?”
He recalled that in the past past, northern Christians had their pride of place and were not push over in the political space.
“We had a crop of Christians who were politically stategic to the north and they used to provide the balancing factor in social configuration of Nigeria not only in the north.
“Why are we not producing such men today?
“Praying without deploying our enormous membership to participate actively in politics will not solve our problems.”
