The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 that was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari recently.
CAN in the statement signed by its media adviser, Pastor Bayo Oladeji says the law, ‘to say the least is unacceptable, ungodly, reprehensible and an ill-wind that blows no one any good. It is a time bomb waiting to explode.’ adding that it’s a declaration of war on Christians.
It recalled that the Bill that sought to bring the religious organizations and NGOs under the control and influence of the government ‘was totally rejected during the public hearing because it would snuff life out of the church and rank the church as a secular institution under secular control. We thought it was all over until we heard of the CAMA that was assented to by the President, making the rejected bill a law. ‘
The satanic section of the controversial law according to CAN is ‘Section 839 (1) &(2) which empowers the Commission to suspend trustees of an association (in this case, the church) and appoint the interim managers to manage the affairs of the association for some given reasons.’
CAN states further ‘While we are not against the government fighting corruption wherever it may be found, yet we completely reject the idea of bringing the Church, which is technically grouped among the NGOs, under control of the government. The Church cannot be controlled by the government because of its spiritual responsibilities and obligations.
‘This is why we are calling on the Federal government to stop the implementation of the obnoxious and ungodly law until the religious institutions are exempted from it. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently return the law to the National Assembly for immediate amendment.
‘Nigeria should not be compared with any other nation when it comes to the relationship between the religious institutions and the government. In Nigeria, people’s religions are tied to their humanity and of course, their life. ‘
It wondered how the government could sack the trustee of a church which it contributed no dime to establish while also asking ‘how can a secular and political minister be the final authority on the affairs and management of another institution which is not political?
‘For example, how can a non-Christian head of Government Ministry be the one to determine the running of the church?
It declared that the law is an invitation to trouble.insisting that the government does not have power to manage the affairs of the church.. ‘Let the government face the business of providing infrastructure for the people. Let them focus on better health provision, food, education, adequate security employment, etc. The government should not be a busy body in a matter that does not belong to it. The government does not have the technical expertise to run the church of God because of its spiritual nature.’
CAN insists ‘if government is bent on imposing a law on us which the entire Church in Nigeria is against, then, they have declared war on Christianity and the agenda to destroy the Church which we have spoken against before now is coming to the open more clearly. If you cannot give us good amenities of life, we would not allow you to take away our liberty to worship our Maker.’
It wondered at the essence of the public hearing when government had made up its mind not to consider the position of Christians at all which we presented during the Public Hearing?
It then called on all well meaning ‘Nigerians to ask the Federal Government to suspend the law because we do not need it in this nation.’
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1 comment
Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, my heart bleed when i read this news. CAN should press hard for that law to be reversed, how can religious organisations be under the control and influence of a political authority? This is an agenda of the devil. The National Assembly where the bill was passed through three stages before been a scented to by the president has Christians as majority, oh!