General Overseer threatens fire for inclusion on list of ‘unknown clerics’
General Overseer of Worldwide Mantle Assembly in Nigeria, Apostle Ekapong Ubi, yesterday, dissociated himself from the clergymen that attended the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima.
He threatened to sue persons that included his name among supposed Christian leaders at the event, saying: “I have also directed my lawyers to investigate how my name appeared in that list.”
He said: “I am Apostle Ekapong Ubi Ofem from Yakurr Local Council of Cross River State. To put the record straight, I never attended any meeting or unveiling of anyone, nor was any invitation given to me as regards any form of event in Abuja. I have not travelled out of this state since January.
“I am not aware of the unveiling of the APC presidential running mate. I wonder how my name appeared in Abuja as one of the men of God that attended that event. It is disheartening how people could go that length to destroy someone’s image. This is a pure case of malicious defamation.”
He added: “I have received almost 80 calls from all over Nigeria and even Togo, where the headquarters of World Wide Mantle Assembly is. One of my close friends had alerted me of this evil by forwarding to me the viral list of the so-called men of God, who, purportedly, attended the said event. It was from the Facebook page of one Emmanuel.
“I have told the said Emmanuel to send an apology letter to me within three days and publish the same in seven newspapers in Nigeria, else he should prepare to meet me in court. I tell you the truth, whosoever, whether the party or individuals, masterminded this deceit, will have to explain to Nigerians in court.
“I have called some of the owners of the phone numbers in that mischievous list, and those I spoke with also disclaimed their alleged involvement in the said unveiling. I am, hereby, calling on security agencies to investigate this affront on Christianity and arrest those who perpetrated such evil act.”
THIS was as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), again, distanced itself from the event, describing those who were identified as church leaders as ‘unknown clerics’.
In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, General Secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola, said the association was shocked at the desperation of some politicians, who once claimed Christians didn’t matter in governance, yet hired unknown bishops, and pastors and priests to impersonate the CAN leadership at their political meeting.
He said: “This is totally unacceptable, reprehensible, unprecedented and ungodly. If they are saying Christians have no electoral values, why impersonate them? We are throwing their principals and sponsors into the court of conscience. These actions have shown who they are to the public and what they are capable of doing to us all.
“We are asking political parties not to ignore religious sensibilities and the sensibilities of the people, especially in today’s Nigeria, when Christians are becoming endangered species daily.
“Our quest is within the constitutional requirements, and ignoring it is akin to trampling on the Constitution, especially the Federal Character Act.”
ALSO, Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) Worldwide, said it is frightening and disgusting how people could stoop so low for political gains.
In a statement, National President Mazi Okwu Nnabuike and National Secretary Obinna Achionye lamented “the level of desperation being displayed by the APC presidential campaign group,” stressing: “Every well-meaning Nigerian should be concerned because such persons do not mean well for the country.”
They said: “If the Tinubu campaign team could go as far as hiring people from the streets and giving them bishops’ attires, just to claim acceptance by the Christian community, then anything else is possible.”
“We are troubled by that show of shame; we are worried over that level of desperation. And it is a warning sign, a wake up call to all Nigerians.”
ON its part, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), in a statement by National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, declared: “The APC and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, as well as his running mate, Kashim Shettima, insulted the millions of Christians in Nigeria by staging an insolent spectacle of hired bishops.”