”We told them that if actually their individual interest was to serve the people of Enugu State, knowing that out of four of them, only one will win, because there is nothing, no magic, no miracle will cause two persons or the candidates of two parties to be announced as having won one election. It hasn’t been done and if it is done, it will not be acceptable.”
THE Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has distanced itself and its members from the alleged rejection of results of the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State by a group of faceless bishops in Umuahia, Abia State.
CAN said the purported bishops did not represent the Christian community and condemned the brazen attacks on the Enugu governor-elect, Dr. Peter Mbah, by the group as sponsored by desperate politicians.
Addressing the Body of Christ, the CAN Chairman, Enugu State chapter, Rev. Emmanuel Edeh, said the news of certain faceless bishops, under the aegis of the so-called Network of Evangelical Bishops of Nigeria, NEBN, who had allegedly converged on the capital of Abia State to accept the results of Abia State gubernatorial election, while rejecting that of Enugu State came to them as a rude shock.
He stressed that the process and election that produced Mbah as the state governor-elect were credible and transparent to the whole world.
Describing the faceless bishops as sponsored meddlesome interlopers to cause confusion and distrust in the state, the CAN chairman queried the basis of the alleged submission made by the bishops, saying it did not represent the true reflection of what transpired in the state.
He maintained that none of the said bishops was an election observer or resides in Enugu State.
“For a group of people to have gathered themselves at Umuahia, are they election observers or monitors? Are they an extended arm of INEC? Nobody should listen to them.
“If they were given an impression of what happened in Abia State where they are staying or possibly doing their businesses, that would have been better.
”They should have asked Bishops; well-known Bishops, the recognized ones who are in Enugu what really happened. It is just like (God forbid) I, as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, chairman of Enugu State, inviting some clergymen and say let’s say whatever we feel like saying concerning what happened in may be Adamawa or Kaduna State.
”What is the veracity? Is it based on what you heard or what you experienced? That is why I asked, were they election observers or monitors or an extension of INEC?
”We don’t understand the basis and, of course, I want to recognize that every individual or any group of people have the right to say what they want to say,” he said.
The CAN chairman further urged members of the public to disregard the statement purportedly issued by NEBN discrediting the Enugu governorship election results as selective and politically motivated as it did not represent the state of affairs in the coal city state.
He said further: “But, I want to prefer to say and advise the public not to regard that as anything. They are not in Enugu here and the worst is that you can’t even see the face of any of them. Yes, you can’t see their faces.
“I have already advised him (Enugu governor-elect) to accommodate all. And I want to say it categorically clear that the four candidates before the election were invited.
”We told them that if actually their individual interest was to serve the people of Enugu State, knowing that out of four of them, only one will win, because there is nothing, no magic, no miracle will cause two persons or the candidates of two parties to be announced as having won one election. It hasn’t been done and if it is done, it will not be acceptable.
“So, my advice to him (Peter Mbah) like I have done already is for him to accommodate all, carry every other person along. We are all brothers, we are all citizens. You have offered yourself to the people, what you are asking them is for mandate to be given that you are going to serve them. They should put their words into action by allowing peace to reign in Enugu State.”