he Diocesan Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta, Monsignor Christopher Ajala, at a news conference stated that the Catholic church suspended its activities in CAN because it was too close to government.
The Director Communication, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev Fr Raulph Madu, while speaking to a reporter of one of the national dailies maintained that the CBCN did not pull out of CAN, and that, the body was only trying to sought out some issues with National Christian body.
He mentioned that the body only withdrew temporarily from CAN, which will only last for few weeks, adding that, there was no squabble between the two religious bodies.
According to him, “how can we pull out of CAN, we are just trying to iron out some issues with them, which are not palatable to us and its only going to last for few weeks”
“We will always be in support of the National Body; some of our Bishops are head CAN in some states, like, Owerri, among others”.
Christian Association of Nigeria has reacted to the threat by the Catholic block to pull out of the organisation, blaming their action on the loss of the Presidency of CAN to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.
The Public Relations Officer of the 19 Northern States of CAN and Abuja, Mr. Sunny Oibe, in an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Abuja also accused Catholics of arrogance.
He said, “There is no division in CAN and we are all speaking with one language. There are some certain elements in the leadership of PFN led by Cardinal John Onaiyekan because he lost PFN Presidency to Oritsejafor who has a lot of achievements.
“There is no need for anybody to lose sleep over the threat by Catholics to pull out of CAN because without them CAN will still continue. The constitution of CAN makes provision that membership can be terminated by any group that is misbehaving or any group can also terminate their membership.
“Why is it that when Catholics were in the leadership of CAN, every bloc supported them, but now because power has changed hands, they are threatening to pull out and causing confusion?
“They have been agitating that the Presidency of CAN must one from the South. They at appendage of PDP and PDP themselves. They are known for double standards. A man of God should not be double speaking.”
Accordding to Oibe who is also the spokesperson for the President of Tarayar Ekklisiyar Kristi A Nijeriya, a conglomeration of 13 church groups in CAN, Catholics should not mislead the public even if they want to pull out.
He said, “The Catholics are claiming that the current CAN leadership has deviated from the vision of the founding fathers when they don’t even know how CAN came about. What did the Catholics know about the vision of the founding fathers?
“CAN was formed because of the marginalisation of Christians in the North. The Christians in the North, particularly those of them from the TEKAN extraction came together and formed Northern Christian Association. It was that body that metamorphosed to
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