Cleric Faults Tinubu Over Holy Communion Comment

Director-general of the Remedy for Victims of Religious Persecution and Discrimination Initiative, Bishop Emmah Gospel Isong, has charged the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flagbearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to retract the statement credited to him about the holy communion and church rat metaphor.

While reacting to the statement yesterday in Calabar, Isong said Tinubu erred in his holy communion and church rat metaphor and urged him to withdraw the statement so as not to lose supporters from the Christian faith.

Tinubu had in Kaduna while comparing Nigeria’s compliance with global climate change directives to preventing “a church rat from eating poisoned holy communion”.

He spoke during his engagement with the Arewa Stakeholders in Kaduna on his programmes for Nigeria if elected.

But in a reaction to the metaphoric issue, Bishop Isong stated the APC presidential standard bearer erred and should withdraw his statement so as not to lose his teeming supporters from the Christian faith.

The cleric described the statement as sarcastic, demeaning and misrepresentation of the Christian communion.

Isong said, “Some of us who have been his teeming supporters feel the statement is very derogative, misrepresenting, a misinterpretation of the Christian communion, our highest sacrament which is the death of Christ and his resurrection.

The Christian faith holds the sacrament of the holy communion of the bread and wine very sacrosanct, highly supernatural, and very eternally significant.

“Therefore by whatever mistake the APC presidential flag bearer had made that comment is going to affect 60 million of his supporters who take communion every week and every month.”

The cleric called for an apology from the APC presidential candidate to the Christians as the statement if not retracted is capable of having a negative effect against his presidential ambition.