Baptist Youths Congratulate New CAN President, Condemns Muslim-Muslim Ticket

By Jide Afolabi

Youths of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, NBC, have congratulated the newly elected President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Archbishop Daniel Okoh describing him as a worthy successor to the immediate past President, His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson Supo Ayokunle.

In a Congratulatory message signed by the President, Nigerian Baptist Convention Youth Conference, Pastor Onajite Enunuaye, he said that the overwhelming acceptance of Okoh’s nomination is a testament to his divine ordination for a time like this.

He called on the new President to continue the vision of rebranding CAN to win more souls for Christ, protect Christians in Nigeria, and for greater efficiency of the body.

He said “I congratulate His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel Okoh on his nomination and election as the new President of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

“I also congratulate our father and mentor, the immediate past President, His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson Supo Ayokunle for successful completion of tenure of office.

“As a Baptist youth, we are proud of his modest achievements while he held sway. He brought monumental development to the body and the fruits are evident everywhere.

“We are however not surprised by his achievements as his legacies abound in the Nigerian Baptist Convention where he completed a two-term in office and retired recently.

“We urge the new President to continue with the vision of his predecessor and we assure him of our utmost support.” He concluded.

Okoh is the General Superintendent of Christ Holy Church International, Onitsha, and emerged the new leader of CAN after getting 100% votes of all 259 delegates who participated in its 12th General Assembly. He is expected to serve a single term of five years.

Meanwhile, the body has condemned the Muslim-Muslim Presidential tickets of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 General election.

Enunuaye said that the party is insensitive to the religious diversity of the nation stressing that such a ticket is unacceptable to Nigerian Christians.

“Fielding the same faith ticket whether Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket at the presidential level is unacceptable to us. This is insensitive and condemnable.

“The reason adduced for the ticket is even more insulting to the sensibilities of Nigerian Christians. How could anyone claim that there is no competent Christian in the entire North to serve as his running mate? This is unacceptable, hypocritical, and condemnable.

“As youths of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, we believe in competence and we desire good governance. However, we do not believe that competence resides in one faith alone. We are simply asking for fairness, justice, and equity upon which democracy is built.

“However, since all appeals to the candidate and party yielded no positive result, and we are being taken for granted, we will not lament rather, we will use our Permanent Voters Card to vote against the Muslim-Muslim ticket and for the protection of our faith.”