Northern CAN disowns Dogara, Babachir’s meeting over Muslim-Muslim presidency ticket

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday, distanced itself from a meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday by former House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Lawal Babachir and some regional CAN chairmen over the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

CAN said: “We take exception to that. We are not part of it and will never be part of it. Any time we want to speak, we have our channels for speaking.”

Talking to journalists yesterday, on the Abuja meeting, the Secretary General of Northern CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe, said none of the officials of the association was contacted or invited to the meeting.

He said: “It is not true that the leadership of CAN in the northern states met in Abuja to take a position on the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Northern CAN was one of the Christian groups that earlier took a stand against Muslim-Muslim ticket. Our position had been taken. We don’t dwell on the past.

“For some people to gather in Abuja, to say that chairmen of CAN in the 19 northern states met, is an attempt to divide the church, and it will not work.

“The few chairmen that attended said they were invited for a meeting by a non-governmental organisation. Behold, the meeting was called by the former Speaker and the former SGF.

“Why must they call church leaders to their meeting? CAN is not a political party. We have our members across all political parties. When it was good for them, they did not call Northern CAN leaders for meetings. Why are they calling CAN leaders to their meetings?

“Those who attended the meeting were taken aback because it was not the kind of meeting they told them. Unfortunately, some certain persons were being used to reach out to the leadership of CAN in the Northern states.

“We want to use this opportunity to tell the world that Northern CAN has a leader, in the person of Rev. Yakubu Pam, who is the chairman; Rev. Fr. Dodo is the Vice Chairman and I am the secretary, among other officials. We have an official channel of communication.

“For anybody to use the name of Northern CAN to garnish their political agenda is unacceptable.
Politicians should know that some people see this era of politicking as an opportunity to make money, and they will do all sort of things to collect money from politicians.

“Northern CAN will never go to any politician to hang around. Our doors are open to every politician that feels he wants to consult or interface with us. But we will never go to see any politician because our association is not a political party.”