Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has cautioned against concentrating leadership in the 9th National Assembly to a particular religion and ethnicity.
The group says such an action could further widen the gap of distrust, suspicion, acrimony and the existing sense of marginalisation among some tribes and religious groups in Nigeria.
It demanded of the 9th National Assembly consider ethnic and religious balance in its choice of principal officers in order to give a sense of belonging to all religious and ethnic groups in the country.
CAN President Rev. Samson Ayokunle, in a statement released in Abuja on Monday by his media aide, Bayo Oladeji, reminded all stakeholders that it has been the practice since 1999 that whenever a Christian emerged the Senate President, a Muslim should emerge the Speaker of the House of the Representative and vice-versa. Same was applicable in case of their deputies.
The CAN President said: “Our quest has become imperative due to the existing order in two other arms of the government where the President and the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria are Muslims from the north. Our appeal is for the Senate President or the Speaker be a Christian to address the religious dichotomy.
“This will give other Nigerians a sense of belonging, not minding their religious, political and ethnic differences. A critical study of Chapter 14 (13 and 14) of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) underscores the truth.”
CAN urged the Presidency and leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support its position for an enduring peace, unity and development.
Doing this, it said, will go a long way in fixing some of the problems confronting Nigeria that are rooted in religious and tribal suspicion, domination and marginalisation at every level of the government.