Don’t add to Nigerians’ pains, PFN tells Tinubu

Urges Electorate To Accept Verdict Of Presidential Tribunal 
The President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to add to the pains of Nigerians occasioned by various factors but imitative policies that will give them relief.

Oke also called on President Tinubu not to marginalise any part of the country irrespective of their political leaning, ideology, religious belief or whether they voted for him or not.

The PFN President made the call while addressing a press conference on the state of the nation in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday.

Oke, flanked by other leaders of PFN, including the Oyo State Chairman, Samson Ajetomobi, said: “Nigerians are in pain. The last eight years have been very traumatic to Nigerians. There was terrible pain. There were kidnappings and all manner of evils. Nigerians are battling with so much pain. Relieve Nigerians of their pains; don’t add to it.  Let’s apply the balm; let’s relieve Nigerians of their pains. We want to enjoin the president and his team to relieve the pain.

“Nigerians are fighting all kinds of war. Please fight their war; don’t add to their war. Whether they voted for you or not, fight their battles. Don’t fight and war against them. Politicking is over, governance should begin. Let’s bring everybody together. Don’t make any group of people enemies for the target. Bring everybody together.”

The cleric also urged Nigerians to accept the outcome of the 2023 presidential election petition tribunal when delivered and forge ahead to build a formidable and virile country.

While cautioning those that might want to kick against the verdict, he maintained that those that lost today could win tomorrow if the country is peaceful.

He said: “Nigeria has just held a general election. A truly well fought election. We don’t want to comment on it. Let the tribunal finish their work and render their verdict. We pray that God will guide them. We want to enjoin all Nigerians to accept the verdict of the tribunal and let’s move on with building our nation. We should come together in unity and let the healing begin, because the politics of the past few months have affected various sectors of our nation. And we cannot play politics forever. We should not toe the way of Sudan that held an election and the election led to war.

We don’t want war in Nigeria. When the tribunal renders their verdict, let us lay down the hatchet and let everybody join hands together to build a virile Nigeria. If we do that, there will be another time for another election. Those that lost today can be winners tomorrow. Let us move on and build a new Nigeria.”

Oke also prayed for the success of the president and peace of the country.

He urged the Federal Government to urgently take some drastic steps to address the high cost of living by expediting action on the upward review of the minimum wage and dealing with factors that lead to hikes in the prices of items.

He also called for economic diversification and exploration of the nation’s natural resources.

The cleric reiterated that there is hope and better days ahead for the country, saying tomorrow would be alright.  He called on Nigerians to move closer to God.

On the military coup in Niger Republic, Oke said that coup is old-fashioned and should not be condoned.

He, however, said that war is not an option, warning that war and military intervention would lead to bloodletting. The cleric maintained that instead of war, economic sanctions and diplomacy could help to address the stalemate and restore constitutional order in the West African country.