… Warns politicians against ethnic, religious bias ahead of 2027 polls

… Advocates Muslim-Christian ticket balance

… Cautions against govt interference in electoral process

The National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Wale Oke, has called on the federal government to take decisive action against religious extremists, urging the country to seek divine intervention for its myriad challenges, including insecurity and economic hardship.

While expressing concerns about the alleged agenda by some purported radical groups to transform Nigeria into a caliphate state, the cleric condemned the violence perpetrated in the name of religion and called on the government to take decisive action against offenders.

Speaking during the Agape International 38th Annual Convention hosted by Agape Christian Ministries, Akure, Ondo State capital, the bishop described acts of terror as criminal, regardless of the perpetrator’s faith.

With Nigeria gearing up for the 2027 elections, Oke advised politicians to avoid ethnic and religious biases, focusing instead on competence.

“There are radicals who are bent on turning Nigeria into a caliphate state. But the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of worship. And we are praying that God will deal with them. But to use violence and kinetic means to unlawfully take lives in the name of religion—that is, satanic—that is wrong. And the government should come hard on that. They should not tolerate it.”

“Kidnapping is criminal. Taking children from school is criminal. Beheading is criminal. If anybody is doing that in the name of religion, he is a criminal, whether he is from the Christian side or from the Islamic side, and the government should come hard on that. And it is not the generality of Islam. It is the radicals among them.

“So the Muslim community should identify those radicals and hand them over to law enforcement agencies. And government should come hard on them. Everybody should be able to practice his religion without molestation or harassment of any kind in Nigeria.

“If you can persuade me to change from being a bishop into becoming a Muslim, and you can succeed, God bless you. If I persuade you and I convince you to convert to Christianity, God bless me. Let’s go with it if it is persuasion. But if it is violence, no. There’s a difference between criminality and religion. The government must not tolerate criminality,” Oke stated.

He advocated for a balance in the representation of religions in political positions to ensure fairness, describing Nigeria as a secular state that must remain neutral in religious matters to recover equitably.

The PFN president, who stressed the necessity of an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) free from political influence, argued that INEC should regulate all political parties impartially, without bias toward any party in power, warning that the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy hangs in the balance.

“I shared the thought that INEC should be independent of political influence. INEC is a government functionary. It is not a police part of any political party. INEC is to regulate all political parties and to conduct elections, not to take sides with any. It is the opinion that we call for INEC to be independent of government interference and some political party influence. We are demanding that for the exercise of our civil rights, it does not partake of partisan politics.

“Politicians should not play the ethnic card in choosing who leads us. They should not play the religious card in choosing who leads us. If the presidential candidate is a Muslim, is it not fair to have the vice-presidential candidate as a Christian so that both parties will have somebody in the Villa?

“If the presidential candidate is a Christian, the vice president should be a Muslim to balance it. Because of the secular state of Nigeria, there’s no need for it to be all together Muslim or altogether Christian.

“Don’t play religion against another. No, let Nigeria recover equitably. Everybody should have what belongs to him, no matter the religion he practices. Don’t favor a religion against another. Don’t favor Christianity against Islam. Don’t favor Islam against Christianity. Be neutral. Nigeria is a secular state.”

While clarifying recent remarks regarding the office of the Archbishop, Oke explained that while titles like “Senior Pastor” or “Archbishop” are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, they are administrative necessities crafted for organizational convenience and proper structure within a growing church.

According to him, the absence of the titles in scripture does not make them unbiblical or sinful.

“The bishop is in the Bible. The evangelist is in the Bible. The archbishop is a senior bishop, or father of bishops; as the church grows and expands, structure is adjusted.

“People of different organizations have the right and liberty to use whatever they choose. Some will call it Senior Pastor; some call it Senior Pastor. There is nothing like ‘senior pastor’ in the Bible. ‘Pastor’ is in the Bible. But for administrative convenience for an organization that is growing, the fathers of the organization sit together and say, ‘Look, we don’t want confusion. God is not the author of confusion. All of us cannot be equal. There must be a leader. Let’s have the senior pastor.

“That doesn’t mean it’s unbiblical. It is part of the wisdom that God gave them to cope with the growth rate that they fashion at

“So there’s a difference between what is not mentioned in the Bible and what is unbiblical. It is not unbiblical. It’s not a sin. But the fact that it is not mentioned in the Bible doesn’t mean it’s a sin. It evolves with the growth rate that they were faced with.