A Christian group, Northern Christian Leaders Eagle Eyes Forum, which
endorsed the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj-Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), said the members now live under threat.
Specifically, the group on Friday raised the alarm that its leaders’
lives were under serious threat following its endorsement of Buhari.
Addressing journalists in Kaduna, Chairman of the Forum, Pastor
Aminchi Habu, simply described the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan
as a disappointment.
Habu said in 2011, the Christian community overwhelmingly voted for
Jonathan but regretted that the President had failed the entire nation,
adding that Jonathan’s “poor performance” informed the body’s decision
to support Buhari.
He said the Forum could not be intimidated in any way to vote for Jonathan on the basis of religion or ethnicity.
The Christian body argued that they believed that Buhari could rid the country of insecurity and underdevelopment.
Habu said, “Our decision to endorse Buhari was informed by our
patriotic commitment to build a free, fair and a secular society, where
the inheritance should be justice to all.
“After the endorsement, our members, especially the Chairman of this
Forum, have continued to receive threats through phone calls and text
messages, labelling them a sell-out, who have abandoned a Christian
candidate in the person of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“We supported the present government in 2003, 2007 and 2011. However,
after critical analysis, the Forum decided to endorse General Muhammadu
Buhari, based on the abysmal performance, the security challenges,
outrageous corruption in public places, coupled with economic downturn
in the country today.
“Our enemies accused us of collecting N500m from General Buhari. This
accusation is not only wrong, but a blatant lie from the pit of hell.
We charged anybody with concrete evidence of any money, collected by
anybody on behalf of the Forum, to come forward with such evidence.
“The endorsement of Buhari was done publicly, and not secretly like
our accusers will do; yet a segment of corrupt minds is employed to
water down the good intention of the Forum, which is to build bridges
and promote peaceful co-existence within our complex diversity.
“We shall not betray our trust as religious leaders for any monetary
consideration. We shall do everything humanly possible, within our
calling, to protect the interest of our image.
“We are therefore calling on Christians not to be deceived by these
religious bigots and shun sentiment by voting the right candidate in the
forthcoming general elections.”
SOURCE:PunchNG
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