North West chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed disappointment over the composition of the board of directors into North West Development Commission (NWDC) as no single Christian was appointed into the board.
In a statement, he made available to newsmen in Kaduna, the CAN chairman, North West, Elder Sunday Oibe called on President Bola AhmedTinubu to reconsider the appointment of board members to include Christians because according to him the zone does not belong to the Muslims alone, but also Christians as well.
Elder Oibe said, if President Tinubu fails to address the complaints, CAN would be left with no option than to seek redress before the court of heaven against his composition of the board of the directors of the commission.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent appointments to the board of directors of the North West Development Commission by President Tinubu. Unfortunately, these appointments do not reflect the diversity of the region, as no Christians from the seven states were selected to the board of the Commission. We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that with the appointment of board of directors into the Commission by President Tinubu shows that the intention behind Muslim Muslim ticket during the 2023 presidential election has started manifesting, otherwise how comes there is no single Christian on the Board of directors of the Commission as if there is no Christian faithful in the region.
“Mr President should take note that there are indigenous Christians in all the states that make up the North West, that is; Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States, and as such it should not be assumed that all the people are Muslims.
“For this reason, we want to remind President Tinubu that Northwest is made up of both Christians and Muslims, Hausa, Fulani and other tribes as such, this lopsided appointment with no consideration to the feelings of these other bloc is to say the least, is unbecoming of the government of Tinubu’s administration and we are disenchanted by this action.
“For the sake of inclusivity and fair representation, it is imperative that Christians are appointed to the commission. The current situation is unacceptable because it perpetuates marginalization. We urge President Tinubu to reassess these appointments and make necessary adjustments to ensure balanced representation”.
OIbe further said, leaving these appointments unchanged will have negative consequences for the commission’s success and encourages religious divisions in the region and Nigeria as a whole, whole calling on President Tinubu to prioritize unity and inclusivity in his decision-making especially when it comes to issues of balancing the two religious
“We request that President Tinubu take an immediate action to address these concerns and promote inclusivity in the North West Development Commission. Until the President reverses this appointment to include Christian on the board of the Commission, we have no doubt that he is out to implement Islamic agenda ahead of the 2027 general election to favour only Muslims in the country”.
Meanwhile, OIbe called on all Christians in the zone to remain law abiding and wait patiently to see whether or not President Tinubu will reverse the situation to include Christians on the board of the Commission.
“If Mr President fails to address our genuine complaints, we may be left with no option than to seek redress before the court of heaven against his government’s composition of the board of the directors of the commission,” the statement said.
