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By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
Christians under the aegis of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), in Bayelsa State in particular and Nigeria in general, have started the process of sensitization and orientation of members to actively participate in politics and governance in the country.
To this end, the PFN, Bayelsa State chapter has organized an independence symposium on the importance of the on-going voter’s card registration.
The PFN in Bayelsa said it has taken a bold step to ensure that its members “will henceforth not play second fiddle, but participate actively in the process that will lead to electing credible candidates in all elective positions in all the states and the Federal Capital Territory.”
The auditorium of the Greater Evangelism Crusade Church Opolo, near Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital was filled with who is who in the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bayelsa chapter.
Speaker after speaker reiterated the importance of active Christian participation in the process of electing credible leaders in the nation’s polity.
According to the chairman of PFN, Bayelsa State chapter, Bishop Prosper Ayawei, the mandate from the national president of PFN, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, is for Christians to be involved in the planning process, to participate and perfect the political system which they (Christians) hitherto had been taunted as a dirty game, while allowing all manner of persons to become leaders through hook and crook.
He posited that the PFN had been obsessed by these abnormalities, hence it has deemed it not only appropriate, but timely and auspicious to begin to sensitize and put strategies in place to mobilize all its members from the nooks and cranny of the state to participate in the current voters card registration.
He said “this is a wakeup call for PFN to produce the exalted position of the state governor, House Assembly members, National Assembly members, Local government chairmen as well as councillors.
Also, a member of the Social Security Outreach (SSO) of the PFN, Barr Mac Anthony, posited that for the first time PFN and INEC are having this type of engagement, describing it as good and a wake-up call for Christians that had being in slumber.
He noted that despite the denominational differences Christians need to be involved in the process of electing credible candidates with fear of God, instead of promoting mediocrity at the altar of credibility.
He warned that should Christians still hold that politics is a dirty game and stay aloof during elections, they should not complain when the elected leader shy away from good governance. “We should start from somewhere, because the down-trodden have been subjected to the whims and caprices of politicians.”
Mac Anthony reiterated that Christians have for long, since the beginning of the nascent democratic dispensation, been relegated to the background and slept on what ordinarily ought to be their rights, just as he commended PFN and INEC for taking the bull by the horn.
He charged members to jettison the old order of describing politics as dirty game.
In his contribution, the head of Voters Education and Publicity at INEC in Bayelsa State, Wilfred Ifogah, said that the PFN as a body of Christian leaders have influence on their followers, as they should be steadfast to effect positive change during election, instead of promoting apathy.
He said INEC honoured the invitation by PFN to enlighten its members on the need for the voters registration and online registration and used the forum to inform them that there are 37 electoral management bodies, as well as civil societies which Christians belong to, adding that to improve the electoral process all hands must be on deck for collaboration among stakeholders. He advised them to update their knowledge to avoid voters’ apathy as leaders’s speech can make and mar the outcome of electoral process.
“Christians should not only pray, but encourage their members to register,” he said.
He lauded the meeting of critical stakeholders, which he said is apt, noting that as the body of Christ they can’t depend only on prayers, but take actions when the need arises. Christians need to take their stand during elections, he said.
Christians were further enjoined to take advantage of their numerical strength and population to play active role in the process of electing credible leaders in Nigeria.
The chairman, PFN South-South, His Eminence Zilley Aggrey, who is also the general overseer of Royal House of Grace Church, stated this while speaking to journalists at the event.
He said that aside RCCG, Deeper Life, Assembly of God and the Christian Association of Nigeria, there is 67 PFN members, whereas Nigeria needs only 23 million to elect a president, stressing that “the huge giant should stop sleeping.”
He applauded INEC for inviting PFN to brief them on the importance of voters card registration and how they can access the site for them to participate in the process that would mid-wife the election of credible leaders that will take Nigeria to an eldorado.
On why PFN is taking this stand, he said the early church lacked awareness and understanding, with the belief that prayers alone was all that they needed to elect credible leaders, but this reawakening will go a long way to change the narratives for good, adding that churches should take advantage and juxtapose prayers with active participation in the process of electing credible leaders for the country.
High point of the epochal event was prayers for the unity of the nation, insurgence, kidnapping, banditry and all forces that have been working against the progress and development of the country.
