The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has cautioned politicians and their supporters against dragging the name of Jesus Christ into partisan political arguments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, issued the warning on Wednesday while reacting to a viral comment by Precious Oruche, popularly known as Mama Pee, who claimed that Peter Obi could defeat Jesus Christ in an election if Christ failed to properly introduce himself to voters.
Mama Pee had reportedly said, “If Jesus Christ no introduce himself well, Peter Obi go win am,” while making a political point about the 2027 presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi.
Reacting to the remark, Okoh said political debates could be intense and passionate, but Christians and other Nigerians must exercise restraint when invoking the name of Christ in political discussions.
The CAN president stressed that Jesus Christ should not be presented as a political rival or used as a tool to promote one politician over another.
“Jesus Christ is not a political candidate, a campaign slogan or a weapon to advance one politician against another,” Okoh said.
He added that the name of Jesus was sacred and should not be dragged into partisan contests in a manner that places human beings, regardless of their popularity, on a pedestal reserved for God.
According to him, Nigerians have the right to support or criticise any political candidate, including Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and President Bola Tinubu, but political allegiance must not override reverence for Christ.
“We are free to support Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu or any other candidate. We are equally free to criticise them. But our political loyalty must never become so intense that we begin to speak of politicians in terms that diminish the reverence due to Christ,” he said.
Okoh urged political actors and their supporters to shift the focus of the 2027 campaign to issues capable of determining the country’s future, including competence, character, policies and performance.
“Let us argue about competence, character, policies, performance and the future of Nigeria. Let us disagree passionately if necessary, but let us leave Jesus Christ out of our partisan quarrels,” he stated.
The CAN president also warned against portraying politicians as messianic figures, insisting that no individual seeking elective office should be equated with the Christian concept of salvation.
“No politician is the Messiah. No political party represents the salvation of the human spirit that Christ epitomises. And no electoral victory is worth compromising the honour due to His name,” Okoh said.
He consequently called on politicians, their supporters and Nigerians generally to approach political conversations with responsibility and restraint as the country moves towards another crucial electoral season.
In a related development, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has warned that Nigeria’s democracy could be undermined if what he described as the “dictatorship” of President Bola Tinubu continues.
Adebayo raised the concern on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where he spoke about the state of the nation and the issues shaping the political discourse ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, while there may be disagreements among political actors over issues such as fuel subsidy, the country’s fundamental challenge is the survival and credibility of its democratic system.
“What I know is that subsidy and some of these issues are not central to the challenges the country is facing. The real challenge is democracy itself,” Adebayo said.
He argued that Nigeria’s democracy could be at risk if the government fails to guarantee free, fair and credible elections or continues to create conditions that discourage citizens from participating in the electoral process.
“Democracy may end if we allow the burden of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s dictatorship to continue.
“It may end if we cannot guarantee free, fair and credible elections, or if we continue to generate voter apathy because we cannot articulate a clear alternative before Nigerians of what the country can become in a short order,” he said.