With 10 Days To Election, Jonathan Splits Nigerian Pastors

With 10 Days To Election, Jonathan Splits Nigerian Pastors

The General Overseer of  The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM)

Bishop Mike Okonkwo,  has criticized Bishop Oyedepo and other Pastors for exempting Pastor Yemi Osinbajo from a meeting of Christian leaders held recently at the Redeemed Christian Church of God on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Okonkwo according to  Sahara Reporters, lambasted the meeting for not inviting Pastor Yemi Osinbajo who himself  is a Christian leader and pastor.

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Okonkwo said the least the Christian leaders could have done was  to invite Osinbajo and hear from him, adding that not doing that was “an act of cowardice.”

Bishop Oyedepo however did not take kindly to that suggestion from a Bishop of equal caliber, and demanded an apology from Okonkwo, but Okonkwo, equally annoyed, insisted on his position and refused to offer an apology at the tension-filled meeting.

It was also gathered that Bishop Oyedepo maintained his advocacy for President Jonathan at the meeting at times in vehement anger and outright disrespect for the opposing views of the other pastors.

A leading Bishop from the North spoke up against the plans of Oyedepo and Oritsejafor to mobilize support for the president.

Christian leaders in the North have always criticized the lust of some Southern Christian leaders for material things making them not to empathize with the sufferings of the Christians in the North, who are facing persecution.

Bishop Jonas Katung of the Maranatha Churchin, Jos, explained that President Jonathan has done nothing in the past four years deserving of a second term. Katung, who is known as the Lion of Jos, was ordained Bishop in Jos by RCCG’s Pastor E.A. Adeboye in 2013.

He strongly advocated that the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket should be given a chance given the level of failure of the incumbent.

Pastor Mathew Kasali of the Foundation of Truth Assembly in Lagos also spoke passionately at the meeting, calling on the Christian leaders to remain neutral and not become encumbered with partisan issues for any reason. He also supported Bishop Okonkwo that Pastor Osinbajo, “who is one of us,” should be allowed to address the meeting.

A source at the meeting disclosed that the national clamor for change in the country as being captured by the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket has now become a source of great fear by several Christian leaders in the Southern part of the country, essentially because of their own selfish interests.

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He asked in disappointment, “Where is the fear of God in the lives of some of these leaders?”

It would be recalled that Pastor Tunde Bakare also criticised CAN and PFN for endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for the 14 February presidential election at the expense of one of their own, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the running mate to the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

 Bakare said that “a prophet is sent to bring change not build consensus,”  adding that “whenever you compromise what is right in order to gain acceptance with men, you lose acceptance with God.”

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
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Kess Ewubare Kess Ewubare is a former senior political/current affairs editor at Legit.ng. He has a diploma in-law in addition to a BSc and a master’s degree in mass communication. Kess is a journalist with over 10 years of working experience in several fields of journalism ranging from radio presenting, television news reporting, newspaper reporter, feature and magazine writing as well as online and multi-media journalism.