The immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barr Yakubu Dogara has admonished Christians to take stock of what each presidential candidate has done for Northern Christians and meditate on it.
Dogara was speaking in Jos on Tuesday when he represented the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the 2023 extraordinary General Church Council, (GCC) of the Evangelical Church Winning All, (ECWA).
Quoting from the Bible, Dogara likened Atiku Abubakar to the popular centurion in the Bible, whose faith was acknowledged by Jesus Christ and of whom the Jews spoke glowingly to Jesus about his love for the Jews and the fact that he even built a synagogue for them.
He queried why the present Church is not attracting centurions anymore and urged the clergy to reflect hard and long on that.
Citing Governors Bony Haruna and Rev Jolly Nyame, he said those two represent two solid synagogues Atiku Abubakar had built for the Church and challenged Christians to examine other candidates and if they have done what Atiku has done, then they can vote for them.
He also warned that the presidency does not change the president in a way that he will start doing what he is not known for overnight.
According to him, “The presidency can only reveal who the president is. None of them will start doing the good work they haven’t done for the Church in the past just because they have been elected president.”
He said that on their part, they settled for Atiku Abubakar following a scientific analysis of the various candidates, which was transparently carried out by saying, “Do not waste your votes by casting them elsewhere so that we won’t lament like Job in the Bible who said, “the things I greatly feared have come upon me.”
According to him, “No believer should waste his vote because the God we serve does not tolerate waste. We believe very strongly in the coming together and living together of Nigerians of all creeds in order for us to make progress, hence our rejection of the same faith ticket.”
Yakubu Dogara opined that Christianity is serving the God of justice, and justice is indivisible stressing that “for those querying why should a Muslim succeed another Muslim, let them not forget that from 1999 to date, Christians in President’s Obasanjo and Jonathan have ruled Nigeria for 14 years while Muslims in Presidents Yar’adua and Buhari have ruled for 10years.
He also said that he sees himself in Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan and no Christian who stands for the truth will say otherwise and we must acknowledge that between Christians and Muslims, it will take another 4 years before we level up. Anyone that denies this denies the truth, and anyone who denies the truth is not of Christ because the devil is the father of all lies.
Dogara apologized for the absence of Atiku and Okowa at the occasion, saying that it was not out of disrespect for the Church but because they were both in Ekiti for the nationwide presidential rally.
