President, Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leaders, Apostle Babatunde Oguntimehin, speaks to SOLOMON ODENIYI about the group’s support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, despite the Christian Association of Nigeria’s opposition to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket

Please tell us a bit about yourself?

I am the leader of the Episcopal Church here in Abuja. The group is a vision from God to me in 2013 during the administration of (former President) Goodluck Jonathan. God had revealed to me that Goodluck would not win his reelection despite enjoying the endorsement of big pastors in the country. We miss it when we seek the face of pastors of large gatherings rather than God. I told the people that mattered then because I was close to them, but they did not listen to me. I addressed the press and spoke out on the vision. Immediately after the election and the prophecy was right, I started to have a feeling that we should begin to ensure that Christians participate in elections.

Visions must be carried out. In 2018 someone took me to a candidate, and we mobilised our pastors for the candidate. Members of our group are majorly grassroots pastors. We believe that they have personal relationships with their members. Our purpose is to garner votes for a particular candidate and we believe that those pastors at the grassroots are closer to their worshippers and can talk to them and lobby them to support a particular candidate. This was what we did for the candidate in 2018.

How large is the membership of the Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leaders that you head?

We have our executives all over the (36) states of the federation. We have a database for that. In every state, we have a nine-man executive committee. We can produce the name and address of the church for anyone who wishes to verify. We are not a faceless group. At the town hall meetings where we declared our support for (the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola) Tinubu, we had no fewer than 630 pastors and that is just for Abuja. We have more than 1,500 pastors who are members in Abuja. We are planning towards our summit in Abuja where 4,000 pastors have been penciled down to attend. Our members are more than that; if not for financial constraints we will have more than that number. We are doing this on our own. The intention is for these pastors to talk to their members. So, if I say today that I can give Tinubu 10 million votes, I know what I am saying.

Is your group, Nigeria Coalition of Pastors for Good Leaders, a registered group?

Of course, we are. We first operated under the Nigerian League of Pastors for Good Governance; we just changed the name.I have been the leader of the group since 2018.

Your group made news headlines days ago after endorsing Tinubu while the Christian Association of Nigeria condemned your action. Did you expect that reaction from CAN?

CAN has taken a position on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which to me is political. If we are truly Christians and hear from the Holy Spirit, this ticket is a statement from God to actualise the position of Christians in the world, which is that Christianity is beyond religion. Christianity is a way of life. This situation staring us in the face should draw our attention to the fact that Christianity is beyond religion. Let me also say that these two candidates emerged neither through the making of their party nor their ethnic groups. It is the making of God. God wants Christians to know that we have deviated from the norms that say Christianity is beyond a religion. I want to use this opportunity to speak with Muslims in the country, to say that what we are doing is what is expected of true Christians. What we are after is good governance and that is why we are swallowing this bitter pill.

You alluded to the fact that CAN had repeatedly rejected the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket. Why have you then chosen to take a contrary position? Are pastors under your group not bound by CAN’s decision?

If you study what is happening in the political circles, you have to be very careful and look back at what is happening to Christians in the country. Ethnicity is ticker than religion in the country. God does not bother if you are a Christian or a Muslim. Today, I am a Christian, and tomorrow I can be a Muslim but I am a Yoruba man today, there is no way I can stop being one. We can restrict our political demand to ethnicity, that is why we support a candidate from the South. We do not focus our support on religion; that is the message we are passing. We must understand something, it is their turn today; tomorrow it could be a Christian-Christian ticket. What we are doing will be a pointer in case of any opposition.

Isn’t your action capable of causing a division in CAN?

We are not against CAN and the position that CAN has taken cannot stop any Christian from voting for the candidate of their choice. The majority of CAN officials and members belong to different political parties.

We will continue to liaise with them. Today (Wednesday), I had a meeting with some CAN officials to liaise with them and appeal to them that CAN should be neutral and allow Christians to vote for the candidate of their choice. CAN should please forget about this Muslim-Muslim ticket issue. I will also suggest to CAN that as a Muslim has taken the vice presidential position, they should agitate for Christian Senate President and Speaker. Those positions are even more important. What is the duty of the Vice President? He is nothing more than a spare tyre. I plead with CAN not to overheat the polity.

One of the reasons CAN gave for opposing the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket is the tear that the interest of Christians will not be taken care of and they may face increased persecution. Do you think this fear is unfounded?

What I expected our Christian groups to be fighting for is beyond who becomes the vice president. (Major General Muhammadu) Buhari has a vice president who is a pastor, can he stop him from doing anything? There are killings going on everywhere and we have a Muslim President and a Christian Vice President that did not change anything. But now, we want to use this opportunity to tell our Muslim brothers and sister that we have accepted the Muslim-Muslim, they should also accept us, we are ready to live with them wherever they are in the country. What we’ve done will further solidify the bond between the two religions.

There are insinuations from some quarters that your group received monetary gifts from Tinubu. How do you react to that?

If you are a true man of God, you cannot be hired or paid to work against your faith. Faith is spiritual and not physical. Don’t also forget, every human being is a political animal. We are into politics in order to achieve good governance. Also, we are trying to change the perception of Christianity in Nigeria. If you look at it, maladministration has rubbed off on religion. In Nigeria, Christians now pray to God for the basic things the government should have put in place. I see no reason for Christians to be praying to God to travel out or for asking for a miracle to get employed, to pay house rent, or get admitted into universities or polytechnics. If you go to most churches, these are what congregations are praying about. People are no longer going to church to praise God but to make demands for what the government should have done. If we participate in the process and demand what we want, which is what we are doing, is there anything bad in that?

And you are not doing this in anticipation of political appointment, contracts or favours?

I was once a Special Assistant to a minister under Jonathan and I have not founded this group then. We are doing this to support the aspiration of our preferred candidate to become the president and ensure that Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy.

CAN seems to have pitched its tent with a Christian candidate, who has visited churches with large congregations in the country. Won’t you be chastised by your colleagues for going in the opposite direction?

I don’t want to comment on Peter Obi. But we have looked at it critically, we should not miss this chance for power to come to the South. Peter Obi is a good person and a Christian like me, I am not against his candidature. I am only being realistic politically. I want to tell his followers that he cannot win the presidential election for now. He has yet to get that political muscle to do that. Buhari had constantly be winning elections in the North but until he shook hands across the Niger, he couldn’t become President. Obi is not even as popular in the South as Buhari was in the North. I am yet to see the handshake of Peter Obi across the length and breath of the country that can give him enough votes to become the President, except we are deceiving ourselves. Who are the governors, prominent politicians in the North backing Peter Obi and can give him bloc votes?

We Christians like coming out to talk but when it comes to election how many us vote? Where were members of these large congregations during previous elections in the country? The heads of these big churches are not in touch with the grassroots to influence their followers or make Christians to vote during elections.

In our group we are not supporting political parties; we are supporting only candidates. Our pastors are from the grassroots. Forget about the crowds you see in those (big) churches, they may not come out to vote on election day. I am not against Senior Pastor Paul Enenche, Adeboye and others; we respect them and we cannot speak ill of them. I am just only being politically realistic. The basis (of our decision) should be good governance and not same faith ticket. Peter Obi, who is a Christian, can get there tomorrow and mess up. Priority should be who can give us good governance. Bola Ahmed is the only qualified candidate. He is a good man.

Now that your group is supporting Tinubu against CAN’s decision. Are you not afraid of being sanctioned by CAN?

Let me clarify. As long as you are a Christian, you are a member of CAN. CAN has five blocs and our members cut across all the blocs. Moreover, CAN cannot sanction anybody for making a political decision. No Christian can sanction CAN for taking the decision they took neither can CAN sanction any Christian for taking a contrary decision. These decisions are political and not spiritual.

What will be your next line of action if CAN decides to suspend you and other pastors in your group?

No, CAN cannot do that. They know that everybody is free to support anybody. It is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the constitution. CONTINUE READING……………………………

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