Over 100 clerics and prophets in Rivers State have declared support for the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
The religious leaders under the aegis of Rivers Pastors Unite for Tinubu said this after a meeting in Port Harcourt on Monday, February 20, 2023.
They said the APC presidential candidate for the 2023 election was the only person with the capacity to solve the myriad of challenges plaguing the country.
The Coordinator of RPUT, Pastor Sunday Edimeh, who read their resolution said none of the candidates had supported the Christian community as much as Tinubu.
Edimeh, who is also the Founder, One Life Bible Church based in Port Harcourt, however, clarified that their position applied only to the presidential election and had nothing to do with the governorship and other elections in Rivers State.
Other clerics, who attended the meeting were Pastor Julius Dan of the Apostolic Church Nigeria; Apostle Stephen Ngajaekwu, Christ King of Glory; Pastor John Monday, Qua Iboe Church among others.
Quoting from the scriptures, Edimeh urged the Christians to stand for the truth and reciprocate Tinubu’s good deeds to the Christian community by mobilising votes for him across the country.
He stated, “None of the leading Presidential candidates has supported the Christian community as much as Bola Tinubu.
“He has sown only good seeds on the soil of the Christian community and such should never be dismissed.
“We call on fellow clergymen and women to stand with the truth at this time. We are aware that a Presidential candidate is playing up the Christian agenda but the pertinent question is before now, how has he uplifted the Christian community?
“The choice of a running mate does not in any way pose a threat to the Christian community.”
Continuing, Edimeh said, “Hence let us dissociate from the cold-hearted proclivities of political transition, which seek to orchestrate needless divisions based on religious grounds.
“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has not presented any conduct to suggest his non-tolerance for the religious sentiments of all Nigerians.”
He further said that Tinubu had routinely demonstrated competence, grit and tenacity, which had earned him a reputation as a leader of leaders, whose influence and competence had been tested and trusted through the times.
He said, “Bola Tinubu is indeed a kingmaker, who has nurtured numerous political proteges regardless of their religious and ethnic inclinations, as a matter of fact.”
Meanwhile, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has reiterated that he will never join the All Progressives Congress (APC), despite its governors’ commendable stance on zoning the presidency to the South.
Wike, who described the insinuations that he will defect to the APC as speculative, maintained that he remains an unrepentant member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Wike stated these at the 114th quarterly general meeting of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers in Port Harcourt, the State capital on Monday.
He informed the council ahead of Saturday’s presidential election that he will be voting for only the candidate that can guarantee the unity of the country.
Wike said: “I am not a member of APC and I will not be. But, they have made me recognise that they are the heroes of this country.
“The governors came out to say, look, for the unity of this country, the presidency should go to the south. The governors of APC said the way the county is, they want the unity of this country and therefore, the presidency should go to the South.
“They could have as well said no, it doesn’t matter. As governors we have the number. We can still say it should remain where it should remain. But they didn’t do that. They said the way we are seeing this country we want everybody to be together.
“Let no one say because I have the population, therefore, you will continue to dominate. In dominating you need peace, without peace you cannot govern.”
