Oritsejafor Re-elected As CAN President

Pastor-Ayo-Oritsejafor

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor was re-elected on Thursday night to lead the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.

The executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr. Kennedy Opara who served as returning officer of a 5-member electoral committee that conducted the elections which held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, said incumbent president, Pastor Oritsejafor scored 80 votes while his only opponent, Rev. Oyekunle polled four ballots.

The 82 accredited delegates, aside from the two contestants, drawn from blocks out of the five that make up CAN had overwhelmingly opted for the Open Ballot system as they freely raised their hands in the full view of everybody to show the openness of the exercise.

This electoral victory marking the second of a 3-pronged exercise which was preceded by an award of “A True Servant of God” by Christian Elders Forum of Northern States, NOSCEF will however, be subject to ratification of the General Assembly of CAN scheduled for July 9, this year.

At the first election through an electoral college, the CAN helmsman whose audacity and courage in the wake of attacks on Christians in the country has earned him criticisms from some Christian leaders, polled 11 votes to his opponent’s one, to pave the way for Thursday’s election at NEC meeting of CAN.

Oritsejafor thanked members of NEC who have given him another mandate to pilot the affairs of CAN for another term, promising that with their continued support, “together we will build a Church that will transform the nation.”

He also expressed concern about the menace of Fulani headsmen who he said are a part of an agenda to Islamise the nation, noting that essentially, cattle rearers are illiterates who have been schooled in the art of using sophisticated weapons including AK 47 and others.

He blamed the carnage caused by Fulani herdsmen on greedy traditional rulers in parts of the South who collect cattle gifts and huge sums of money in exchange for farmlands in their domains which the Fulani use as bases for their nefarious activities including molesting women, robbing and killing innocent indigenes while the traditional rulers look the other way.

Oritsejafor urged Christians to be very vigilant about the activities of Fulani herdsmen. He said Christians are not against cattle rearing but Nigerians can no longer continue to accept crude methods of grazing cattle.

According to him, European and American citizens eat beef just as other nations of the world do, “but where in those nations do you find cattle on the highway? He maintained that their respective state governments should provide modern grazing grounds for their cattle rearers where they would stay and give their children proper education.

“They should take the cows back to where they came from while grazing their cattle in modern grazing grounds in their homesteads. If they want to be carrying assault weapons, they are at liberty to use same on themselves.”