Southern CAN defends Ayokunle’s election

• Says no crisis in association
• Youths oppose grazing bill

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 17 southern states, yesterday, defended the election of its new president, Rev. Sampson Ayokunle, insisting there is no crisis in the body.

In a statement in Enugu by its general secretary, Dr. Joseph Ajujungwa, in reaction to an alleged claim by a cleric from the north, Rev. Maina Joshua, that Ayokunle’s election is flawed, the chapter maintained that the election satisfied all requirements.

He said the association had since moved on after the election, stressing it is unfair to draw it into unnecessary conflicts.

While justifying the election, Ajujungwa said: “CAN is not built on regions, zones, states or ethnicity. CAN is built on blocs – CSN, CCN, CPFN/PFN, OAIC and TEKAN/ECWA. The constitution of CAN does not say presidency should rotate between north and south. For Rev. Joshua Maima to be saying this to the world is a sign of his ignorance on what CAN is.”

He added: “I want to state here that there is no crisis in CAN. There was never a time Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor influenced the election of his vice as the new president of CAN.”

Meanwhile, piqued by the havoc wreaked by suspected Fulani herdsmen across the country, Christian youths, otherwise known as Youth Wing, Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN), Delta State chapter, yesterday, declared that the proposed gazing bill, if passed into law, would lead to more killings, especially in the south south and south west.

The youths, at an emergency meeting in Asaba, urged Nigerians to resist any attempt by the National Assembly to pass the bill into law.

The association’s chairman, Greg Alibor, told reporters that instead of building grazing reserves in different parts of the country, the Federal Government should channel such funds into other areas, like the provision of basic infrastructure, electricity, roads, education and water.