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Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta and vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has advised the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to avoid divisive politics.
He said this on Friday at a meeting with representatives of the south-south chapter of the association, led by Israel Ege, an archbishop.
He advised CAN to avoid issues capable of dividing the Christian community in Nigeria, and also urged the religious leaders to remain prayerful for God’s intervention over the country’s affairs.
“It is my prayer that the church will continue to lead us in prayers and we need to be a little cautious as a church,” he said.
“I am saying this because from the conversations I am beginning to hear, I want to be sure that the church will not because of politics divide itself.
“The church in itself must be very prayerful that the will of God be done in 2023. We may have our individual preferences, but we must be cautious about the unity of the church.
“Although we are traumatised as Christians, we must be careful not to, because of that trauma, take decisions that may not actually be the will of God.
“There is no doubt that we are very challenged as a nation and it appears that all hope is lost, particularly to the younger ones. But I am one person that believes that all hope is not lost.
“Whatever thing that we have seen in the last seven years, I believe that God has allowed it for a purpose. I believe that there are lessons to be learnt.
“As at today, there is so much insecurity; Most Nigerians don’t even know how huge these challenges are. With the things going on now in the education sector, it’s not what anyone will wish for. We need to be very prayerful.
“The church must stay very prayerful and it’s a time for us as a nation to unite and find peace.”
The Delta governor also spoke on the need for state police to effectively tackle security challenges.
“My principal, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has always said it’s not possible to police this nation with the federal government police only,” he said.
“It is not because of the situation of today, but because of the peculiarities of this nation. We need to devolve power and resources to the states to ensure that they can run their own police force.”
