Despite the protracted leadership tussle rocking the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), the general secretary of church, Pastor David Udofia Oi, on Sunday, said their faction is ready for a peaceful and out-of-court settlement of the crisis.
CAC religious denomination had been embroiled in internal squabble, spanning 33 years, which led to court litigations and polarisation of the Church into three factions.
However, while speaking on the sideline of the graduation and ordination ceremonies of 2023 set of CAC pastors, held at CAC, Oke Awamaridi, Odo Ona, Ibadan, Udofia, stated: “We have not given up hope that this crisis can be resolved amicably.”
According to him, “it is unfortunate and pathetic that the Church has found itself in this kind of situation. For 33 years, we are still on this crisis. But the truth of the matter is that there had been moves and plans in the past to settle this crisis, some of which were scuttled due to insincerity of actors involved.
“The crisis in CAC is not precipitated by ideological differences or revenues of the Church. It is caused by conflicts between some pastors. For instance, in the our constitution and doctrines as a religious organisation, we don’t have provision for the particular age, a serving minister of God can retire. But a pastor can choose to retire or resign due to old age, having realised his health condition or age can’t tolerate the rigours of his callings.
“That was a problem to some people. This one will not leave and when would it be my turn. We have the 1985 original certificate of the Church registration with us. The other factions had made overtures to us to get hold of this certificate, but we can’t release it.
“It is a statement of fact that CAC is one in Nigeria and Overseas. This has been a prolonged internal crisis and clash of interest that we believe can still be resolved outside courts if the warring factions are ready to shift grounds on the sharing of executive positions. On our side, we are not driven by any selfish agenda. We are committed to peace, unity and cohesion of the CAC, Nigeria and Overseas,” Udofia posited.
Continuing, he added: “The Supreme Council presently located at Sango temporarily, represents the remnants of Christ Apostolic Church, which God has preserved and given the task to gather His people together for the return journey to the foundation of truth and integrity of our founding fathers and also the emergence of a new and glorious mission. ”
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