Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria wants CAN elections suspended, National Christian Elders Forum asks group to reconsider

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria announced last week that they would suspend active participation with the Christian Association of Nigeria, the organization of various Christian denominations in the country, until some issues are resolved. In response to the announcement, the National Christian Elders Forum sent a letter asking them to reconsider their decision.

"As this is The Year of Mercy, there is the need for CBCN to reconsider withdrawing the letter to CAN in the spirit of mercy and reconciliation," says the letter signed by NCEF chairman Solomon Asemota, addressed to CBCN president Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, as quoted by Sahara Reporters.

The CBCN is reportedly withdrawing from CAN until some issues are addressed. According to another article by Sahara Reporters, the CBCN wants CAN's upcoming elections to be suspended, and for outgoing CAN president Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor to drop his alleged plans to rig the association's upcoming elections. They said that under Oritsejafor, the association has deviated from their original objectives.

"The way and manner in which the electoral process of CAN has been handled does not show any willingness of the leadership to do things in a way worthy of the Association," reads the CBCN letter, signed by Kaigama. "We can no longer go along with the way things are now."

The CBCN letter also says that the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, which represents the Catholic Church in Nigeria, has observed that CAN has continued to deviate from its original objectives. It is demanding the current electorcal process to be suspended until the five Blocks of the association reconvene "to work out a way of bringing the Association back on track, so that it may serve the purpose for which it was originally founded."

"This is the only condition under which the CSN can positively consider its continued membership of the Association," it says. 

In the NCEF letter, Asemota reminded the CBCN that church leaders should take caution lest they give the impression that some church leaders are supporting the intent for Nigeria to be Islamized..

"All Church leaders in Nigeria must be careful not to create the unfortunate impression that some Church Leaders in Nigeria are 'extensions' of Fulani/ Hausa hegemony intent of Islamizing Nigeria," the letter says. "It is my humble submission therefore that the Church,‎ more than any period in history in Nigeria, needs to be unified to combat the systematic and deliberate efforts to Islamize Nigeria by force."