Why I called Christian leaders' meeting - Onaiyekan

Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese and former Presi­dent of the Christian As­sociation of Nigeria (CAN), John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has said he only invited Christian leaders to a meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State today and not the national meet­ing of CAN.

The clergyman said that he lacks the authority to summon a national meeting of the umbrella Christian association in the coun­try.

Ahead of the meeting, another former President of CAN, Most Rev. Peter Akinola, who is alleged to be a co-convener of the parley, has said he would not be able to attend it

The meeting will hold today at the residence of former CAN Pres­ident and ex-Primate of the Meth­odist Church, Dr. Sunday Mbang.

Onaiyekan, in his invitation let­ter, however, admitted that he has “no authority” to summon any na­tional meeting of CAN.

In a letter to Onaiyekan on his inability to attend the meeting, Akinola said that the information got to him very late.

He said: “I waited to hear from you the response of others to our proposals; your mail arrived in my inbox late midnight in Nairobi. I am very sorry to have to say that I might not be able to attend the Uyo consultation. I have been travel­ling rather extensively within and outside these shores in the last few weeks. In point of fact, I just came back from Nairobi exhausted, hav­ing spent two sleepless nights due to flight delays.

“My two knees are wobbling. My doctor suggests that I take off at least the next one week to rest because as of this moment, I am physically unfit to undertake any further travels in the next few weeks,” Akinola said.

Although it is not part of its constitution, the usual practice and tradition is that the Vice Presi­dent of CAN automatically takes over (through election) from the President whenever the tenure of the latter expires,

In a statement on Monday, the National Director of Christ Re­deemers’ Union (CRU), Dr. Eb­enezer Olusola Abednego, accused Cardinal Onaiyekan of calling the meeting to stall the inauguration of Supo Samson Ayokunle, the President-elect of CAN on July, 20, 2016.

The AUTHORITY had report­ed Abednego as claiming that the outgoing CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, was invited to the meeting. Both Onaiyekan and Mbang have denied Abednego’s al­legation.

In the invitation letter made available to journalists in Abuja, Onaiyekan said: “Three of us, Prel­ate Sunday Mbang, Primate Peter Akinola and John Cardinal Onai­yekan, all former Presidents of CAN, consulted among ourselves over the past weekend, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“We know that we have no au­thority to summon any national meeting of CAN. But we feel that the spirit is challenging us to do our best for the good of the com­munity of Christians.

“The people we are inviting are as follows: All former CAN Presi­dents, and all former Vice Presi­dents. The present incumbents (CAN President and Vice Presi­dent); heads of the five blocs of CAN or their representatives and a few other major church leaders (about five), not included above. We expect it to start at 5.00pm and end by 9.00pm. It will be a closed-door meeting, with no publicity,” he said.

A source in CAN however ac­cused the organisers of the meet­ing of pursuing selfish interest,

He said: “When Primate Akino­la from the Anglican Church, ran for a second tenure as CAN Presi­dent, he was defeated by Onai­yekan following a gang-up against him by the Catholics. When Onai­yekan ran for a second term for CAN Presidency, he was defeated by Oritsejafor from the Pentecos­tal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). Oritsejafor has stabilised CAN and his Vice President, Ayokunle won the election. You can see the selfishness in the meeting.”

Ayokunle, President of the Ni­gerian Baptist Convention (NBC) contested the CAN presidential election under the platform of the Christian Council of Nigeria, his Vice-President-elect, Prof. Joseph Otubu of the Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Move­ment, contested under the um­brella of the Organisation of Afri­can Instituted Churches.

The inauguration of the new leadership of CAN will hold on July 20, 2016 at the association’s forthcoming General Assembly in Abuja. It will be presided over by Oritsejafor, the Founder of the Word of Life Bible Church in War­ri, Delta State.