News Editor
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State chapter, has totally denied any statement dissociating itself from the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Reverend Mathew Hassan Kukah, over his statement on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Rev. John Joseph Hayab, CAN chairman in the state, said, “The attention of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Kaduna State Chapter has been drawn to a statement alleged to emanate from a group of unfamiliar individuals to the association claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Northern Christians Forum of Nigeria (NCFN).
“That there exists a clergy by the name Rev Dr Josiah Nabut who belongs to NCFN is dubious in the first place. Moreover, that CAN does not know the whereabouts of a presumed clergy further makes the statement a cynical attempt at discrediting the revered Bishop Matthew of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who is not only a member of CAN but a renowned priest.”
Consequently, CAN called on the person said to be Rev Dr Josiah Nabut, claiming to be the President of NCFN to come out clean to tell the world the name of the church that he pastors or where he is a member and the list of the membership of the proclaimed NCFN.
According to Rev. Hayab, CAN Kaduna State Chapter is the body that coordinates the fellowship of clerics and the entire Christendom in the state but cannot verify the fact that the said Rev Dr Josiah Nabut is a pastor of any church in Kaduna State is supplementary proof that the statement telling Kukah “to avoid using the pulpit for political gains” is a forgery and should not be taken seriously.
Accordingly, CAN called on the preposterous group parading itself as NCFN to observe that Bishop Kukah’s homily was for the congregation of his Diocese, hence, is devoid of political affinity but a declaration of the harsh realities impacting the everyday life of the members of the Church.
The statement explained that the group submits that Kukah has “deep knowledge of the Bible, … blessed with the power to dissect socio-political happenings around the world and analyse the same for better understanding” is a testimony that Bishop Kukah is in the best position to speak truth to power and that is what his Easter homily does.
CAN, therefore, admonished what it called “the mischief-makers under the guise of NCFN dubiously led by the untraceable Rev Dr Josiah Nabut” to desist from employing the name of the Church for personal profits and scoring cheap popularity with the current leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, who under his watch Nigerians cannot sleep with their eyes closed or travel freely due to heightening insecurity across the country.
