The Christian Association of Nigeria has finally given clear-cut directives to churches in the country on the ideal candidate to vote in the 2023 presidential election.
It cited religious intolerance, involvement with drugs and links with Boko Haram as some of the red flags to look out for when deciding on their preferred presidential candidates.
Recall that CAN had maintained that among other things, the association would not support any presidential candidate that fields a running mate of the same faith in the 2023 poll.
While CAN did not mention names, part of its description of candidates to avoid suits Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate who has been under heavy criticism for picking a fellow Muslim as his running mate.
Meanwhile, CAN had said it would make a categorical statement as to who Nigerians should vote during next year’s presidential election.
Reacting to the ruling APC’s decision to field Muslims as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the association had accused the party of worsening the country’s ethno-religious challenges.
CAN’s fresh directive which was read in the Family Worship Centre, Abuja by a senior Pastor of the church, Sarah Omakwu, is expected to be circulated to churches across the country.
The directive was produced by the Political and Strategy Committee of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
An official of the CAN who spoke off-the-record confirmed the directive to our Correspondent.
According to the CAN, candidates should be voted based on character, competence, capacity and policies.
On character, CAN stated that the candidate must possess the following, “the fear of God, honesty and truthfulness, respect for the rule of law, justice and fairness for all, respect for religious and ethnic diversity, compassion and discipline, clean and credible lifestyle.”
Amid allegations of drug links to Tinubu, CAN stated that candidate’s record must show ” no membership of cult, no involvement in drugs and withcraft; no fanaticism, no relationship to Boko Haram or other violent religious group.”
On Competence, it urged Christians to look out for “Quality performance in previous positions, good education sufficient to manage a complex society, effective management of human and natural resources.”
Regarding capacity, the committee stated that any aspirant must have the ability to envision transformation, ability to communicate the vision to diverse peoples, ability to effectively execute the vision of transformations, as well as proof of good health, sound mind and physical fitness for the job.
As for policies, CAN advised the church to vote only for presidential candidates that support state police, restructuring, ranching, among other things.
On policies, CAN further states, “State police, religious neutrality of the Nigerian state , enforcement of fundamental human rights of all Nigerians, restructuring to decentralize governance, equitable and enforceable sharing of executive offices, equal ethnic and religious representation in military and Security agencies, self-determination for all Nigerian people, no to ruga, yes to ranching, education and free healthcare to all Nigerians (including Almajiri), no open grazing (rather modernization of animal husbandry), local control of local economy, including waters, rivers and forest.”
