Forum asks Amaechi to name indicted pastors in bribery allegation

NORTHERN State Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF) has appealed to Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to name the church leaders who he alleged collected N6 billion to support an unnamed presidential candidate. 

   The elders promised to blacklist such leaders should Amaechi mention them. 

   NOSCEF’s head, Elder Olaiya Phillips, in a statement at the weekend, also condemned any agenda to induce voters based on religious sentiments. 

  He said: “The debasement alleged is of the gravest kind. What he alleges, if true, would be a serious indictment of our brethren and he has a duty to reveal what he knows. 

   He noted that it would be unconscionable for pastors to receive such alleged inducement at a time, “when the needs of our brethren, especially the many displaced and dispossessed in the north, requires every kobo that can be deployed in amelioration.” 

   Urging the Rivers State governor to name the alleged pastors, Phillips stated: “Amaechi is duty and honour-bound to substantiate his allegation by naming the persons he refers to. We are anxious to know who these offenders are so that we may avoid them. It would then be incumbent on the umbrella bodies under whose auspices these pastors collected N6 billion to proceed to investigate any such acts of which prima facie evidence is provided.”