Appointments: “You Are Not Fair To Christians”, CAN Tells Tinubu

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The umbrella body of Nigerian Christians, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, North West Zone, has faulted the lopsided nature of the composition of the Board of the newly created Northwest Development Commission.

The North West CAN, said the non inclusion of even a single Christian on the entire board is totally unacceptable .

It has, therefore, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take urgent steps towards rectifying the anomaly.

The Source reports that President Tinubu,  had, last week, named seven Directors to serve on the Board of the Commission.

However, the CAN North West, in a statement issued Saturday by its Chairman, Elder Sunday Oibe insisted that the appointment did not reflect the diversity of religion as no single Christian was deemed fit to be selected from the seven states of the geo-political region.

The CAN ,said that the President and others within the corridors of power should be conscious of the fact that there are indigenous Christians in all the States that make up the North West region of the country.

” 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 Christian from the seven states was selected to the Board of the Commission.

“We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the appointment of a Board of Directors for the Commission by President Tinubu shows that the intention behind the Muslim-Muslim ticket during the 2023 Presidential election has started manifesting, otherwise how come there is no single Christian on the Board of Directors of the Commission as if there are no Christian faithful in the region?

“Mr President, take note that there are indigenous Christians in all the States that make up the North West – 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 North West is made up of both Christians and Muslims, Hausa, Fulani and other tribes as such this lopsided appointments with no consideration for the feelings of this other bloc is, to say the least, unbecoming of the Government of President Tinubu and we are disenchanted by this action.

“For the sake of inclusiveness 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”, part of the statement reads.