The Former National Vice Chairman South South of the Ruling All Progressive Congress, Prince Hillard Eta has alleged that the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN is a political Wing of People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
CAN had openly rejected the Muslim-Muslim ticket’s choice of the APC, accusing the ruling party of undermining the Christian’s interest.
Speaking with newsmen Tuesday at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, Eta frowned at the antagonistic posture of CAN over the choice of Sen Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the presidential candidate of the APC, Ahmed Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 poll.
The Cross Rivers state born politician remarked that CAN lack the moral high ground to protect the interests of Christains in the country.
He questioned the reason CAN did not oppose the Choice of Atiku, the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP who is a Fulani Muslim but found its voice when Bola Ahmad Tinubu picked Shettima as his running mate.
Alleging, Eta said “let me say this emphatically, the Christian Association of Nigeria is the religious wing of the PDP. It has been so established and we have reasons to say so because the man that is the sitting Vice President today is a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, but the Christian Association of Nigeria did not support him in 2019. He was on the ballot in 2015, they did not support him. They supported Atiku Abubakar, who is a Muslim, but because CAN is beholden to the PDP.
“Let me ask you a question. You know, before these Muslim Muslim ticket matter came up, we in the south said that the President should come to the south whether in PDP or in APC. Now, they did their primaries first, and a Fulani muslim became the candidate, why did CAN not speak against that Ticket? All of a sudden, CAN now found its voice the moment the APC selected Senator Shettima as our vice presidential candidate.
“Let me also say here, before Senator Shettima was picked, we had one Alhaji Masari on the ticket. It didn’t bother them. Do you know why Shettima is bothering them? Because we know that with Shettima, we have locked up the entire North East. It’s a political matter. We want to win this election. With Shettima, we will win this election.
“Look, I am a son of a pastor. And I have always known that religion has no place in politics, if religion had a place in politics, Christians have superintended over this country since 1999, more than the Muslims. if you do an accumulative examination or you accumulate the times spent as the president of this country by Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, it comes to about 14 years at expiration of Buhari’s regime, the Muslims would have done 10 years in all. If it was about religion, then all of the problems and challenges that we are facing today would have dissipated, if it was just that if a Christian becomes the President or the Vice President, that our problems will just go away. Now we have a problem of under development, we have a problem of inaccessibility to the opportunities that other people take for granted in other climes. Those have nothing to do with the pulpit and the mosque. Do you understand? So if we can find Nigerians who can do these jobs for us, then we better concentrate on them providing those necessary variables that will catapult Nigeria ought to be. This must be the concern of every full progressive, it is not in this discountenancing the emotions of Christians, far from it. Now. Ask yourself this question. If in 1993, Nigerians could come together and vote for a ticket that had two Muslims, and after 30 years, people are quarreling with this same scenario. Would you say that Nigeria has progressed or Nigeria had retrogressed. it is a celebration of our retrogression. That what we celebrated 30 years ago, is what some people are fighting over that. I think that we need to interrogate that.
“I watched the television interview of Atiku Abubakar, and I share in the pains of the youths, when you watch a leader speak to issues that are very important in such a Cavalier manner, in such a manner that you begin to question his leadership qualities, do you understand, we need to come into grasp with the reality. The youths are angry and they have every right to be angry.
“Unfortunately for the youths, they have been looking for a hero, they have found in Peter Obi the hero and it is sad because Peter Obi is the antithesis of everything the youths should be looking for. But they have found him and this is why I said that we should be looking at a new paradigm. We need to look at the concerns of the youth. It is important because Nigeria is a very youthful country. We need to create jobs for those who are going to school. We need to give those who are going to school quality education. We need to advance the costs of health in such a way that people that are born today will not suffer the indignities of the lack of health facilities that those who are born today are suffering. So, you know what I’m trying to say, I may be rambling but what I’m trying to say is that politics is different from the pulpit and the pulpit should not be used to confuse the people of Nigeria.
“I’m a Christian and I can tell you that I am not satisfied with Christendom in Nigeria and it has nothing to do with what the Muslims are doing. It has more to do with what our pastors are doing. The pastor should question themselves why people are leaving Christianity. When you have aeroplane, flown with the monies of those who are trekking, when you build universities from the sweat of mothers, who cannot pay the fees of the wards that are in those universities, then you must know why people are living Christendom. It has nothing to do with Muslims.
“I have been in Abuja since 2014. I have a lot of Muslim friends, and no time did any of my Muslim friend even invite me to the mosque. Not to speak of me living my religion to his own. But if I leave my religion today, it will be on account of what the apostles are doing, miracles for Naira , prophecies for million, speaking from both sides of the mouth. And all of these are some of the things that we must question in Christianity, not to bring Christianity into politics. And I dare to say this”
