The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has advised all presidential candidates not to see the 2023 general elections as a do-or-die affair.
Yakubu Pam, CAN Chairman in the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) gave the advice on Thursday at a three-day Special Prayer Summit in Kaduna State.
He urged the flagbearers to explain to Nigerians how they intend to address the economic and security challenges, facing the country and not discuss non-issues.
Pam also beckoned on the candidates to shun campaigns of calumny and character assassination of opponents ahead of the 2023 Presidential election.
He said: “Politicians should strive to address the issues of the economy and proffer solutions and shun campaigns of calumny and character assassination of opponents.
“More so, our presidential candidates should not see the general election as a do-or-die affair, after all, power comes from God and what will be, will be; no man runs faster than his shadow.
“Religious leaders should be able to speak truth to power no matter the circumstances we find ourselves because, for everyone we mislead, we must answer for it someday.
“Our people look up to us for leadership, especially at this time of our democratic experience. We must not fail them. We must provide the needed leadership and direction for them so that this house must not fall.”
The CAN official said the interest of the northern Christians is to promote the unity of the north in particular and Nigeria as a whole.
He called on the federal government to ensure that all the presidential candidates are given equal chances to campaign and solicit votes from the electorates.
“It is equally the responsibility of the government to ensure a level playing field for all the candidates of all the political parties and voters so that at the end of the day, we will have credible elections that would be accepted by Nigerians,” he added.
