…There is a better hope in the Tinubu- Kashim ticket, judging from their history and records, which exceeds other presidential
aspirants…
The Convener of Northern Pastors and Christian Professionals Forum (NPCPF) based in Gombe state, Pastor (Dr) Yusuf Lisman has reacted to the statement credited to one Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, who opposed the APC Muslim- Muslim ticket for the forthcoming 2023 presidential elections that produced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as presidential candidate with Sen. Kashim Shettima as running mate.
Recall that Rev Ndamu who is the General Secretary of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in an interview with journalists in Kaduna state kicked against Muslim- Muslim ticket of the ruling APC.
In a swift reaction through a terse press statement signed by Pastor Lisman on Sunday, said there was never a time when ECWA leadership took a position to interfere with the decision of APC in the choice of its running mate.
The NPCPF Convener noted with dismay that ECWA stakeholders, Pastors, members and denominations were unaware and not party to any such opinion as branded by Nmadu,
The statement reads: “Our/my attention was drawn in respect to an interview credited to Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, JNR, the current ECWA General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Nigeria Christian Solidarity worldwide; reported by Godwin Isenyo at Kaduna, dated 16th August, 2022, published by Punch Newspapers.
“Evidently, as a Christian denominational leader, Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, should have known the ethics of his calling, which is nonpartisan. ECWA constitution has emphatically forbade any of its pastors and leaders from partisan politics and heresies.
“His resort to mundane and callous interference in a political party’s affairs of which he is completely ignorant and daft to the workings of a political process is laughable, ridiculous and reprehensible.
“In mark 12:17 ‘Jesus told them to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God’.
“Rev. Ndamu’s anti Muslim-Muslim rhetoric’s is unsellable, the opinion of one man and the handy work of a Judas Iscariot.
“As it stands today, ECWA has about ten million members and above seven thousand denominations and is so far, the largest Church movement in Northern Nigeria.
“The obvious question that exposes the lies of Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, is owing to the fact that he is running the comedy of one man, a campaign of calumny and a theatre of a saboteur. He has thrown to the dustbin the beatitudes and the teachings of Jesus Christ that ‘blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God’. Mat 5:9.
“He has jettisoned integrity and choose to work with the sons of belial in sowing discord, dissension, mistrust between the Northern Christians and Muslims.
“Rev Ndamu forgot so soon that in the North, both Christians and Muslims are neighbours and brothers. In the same family you find a Christian and Muslim or on the other hand in the same town you will find a Christian and a Muslim neighbour. The fact remains that we are one people.
“As a religious leader, we are to build and unify, not to divide and destroy. (John 10:10).
“To put the records straight, to educate Rev. Ndamu, to clear negative impressions and to provide an antidote to the venom of partisan Pastors and Church leaders – the following facts are verifiable and tenable against the lies and falsehoods of Rev. Ndamu:
(i) There was never a time when ECWA leadership took a position to interfere with the decision of APC in the choice of its running mate.
(ii) ECWA stakeholders, Pastors, members and denominations are unaware and not party to any such opinion as branded by Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu, JNR.
(iii) There was no such meeting, conference, agreement or discussion at any level in ECWA and the Northern Church as affecting APC’s decision in the choice of its running mate.
“Consequently, such opinion can at best be described as a sponsored campaign by those who lost out in APC Vice Presidential nomination.
“If religion is anything to go by: Tinubu is more inclined to Christianity more than Islam. Tinubu’s wife is a Christian, a Pastor and a Cleric at the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
“Secondly, all of Tinubu’s children with one exception: are Christian’s. Tinubu himself has severally participated in church events. With all this in mind and married to a Christian wife for more than 25 years, how can anyone contemplate that Tinubu will Islamise Nigeria.
“On the choice of Kashim Shettima as APC’s Vice Presidential candidate: It happened as a matter of zoning to the North East, where I came from – and the consensus fell on Kashim Shettima based on merit, pedigree, political followership and grassroots presence. Being a Governor of Borno State for eight years, Kashim has not Islamised Borno State.
“For the love of Christ and his neutrality to religious differences, Kashim Shettima was the only Governor who built and reconstructed all the Churches burnt down and destroyed by Boko-Haram when he held sway as Governor.
“Kashim Shettima was the only Northern Governor in the records and the period under review who gave more slots and seats and sponsored Christian pilgrims more than any of his contemporaries even in Christian dominated states.
“Kashim Shettima picked a Christian boy from the gutters, made him his adopted son, sponsored him to the university, now a graduate and married off. As the Bible says “By their fruits we shall know them” Mat. 7:16-20. Even so, a good tree bringeth forth good fruits. Kashim is a Christian at heart and in deeds.
“Our position on the subject of contention is as follows: (i) The totality of Northern Pastors, professionals and Christians do not subscribe to the opinion of Rev. Yunusa Sabo Nmadu JNR. We are not part of his mischief and hereby dissociate ourselves and our members from such a charlatan and his divisive sermon, including that of his accomplices and apologists.
“The Northern Church is a solution center, not a political party. The Bible says we should not judge, neither is a Christian permitted to judge. Mat. 7:1 ‘Do not judge or you too will be judged’.
“There is only one lawyer and judge…. Who are you to judge your neighbour? (James 4:12). In these scriptures we stand. We do not condemn the decision of Tinubu to choose a running mate for himself, nor do we condemn the act of God Almighty. If Kashim Shettima is God’s will for the Church and Nigeria, so shall it be. In Exodus 33:18: God told Moses; ‘I will be gracious to whom
“I will be gracious, and I will have mercy to whom I will have mercy’. Power belongs to God. In times like this, if God chooses Kashim, the responsibility of the Church is to pray and not to condemn.
“Our decision is sacrosanct and binding. Mat. 6:10 ‘Let thy will be done on earth….’ For now as Pastor’s, Christian professionals and leaders in Northern Nigeria: There is a better hope in the Tinubu- Kashim ticket, judging from their history and records, which exceeds other presidential
aspirants.
They have been proven and found worthy. Our support for them is unequivocal,” the statement by Lisman concluded.