Christian Association of Nigeria denies being under any pressure to congratulate Buhari

UMBRELLA faith group the Christian Association of Nigeria (Can) has denied being under pressure to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari over his recent election victory saying it will felicitate with him as is always the tradition.

Last week, a source within Can's national leadership said that some influential persons in government were unrelenting in their persuasion for the body to pay the president a congratulatory visit. However, Can president, Reverend Samson Ayokunle, dismissed the report as untrue, saying there is no such pressure on the church from any quarters.

Reverend Ayokunle said that as a religious group, Can remains apolitical and would congratulate and rejoice with whoever the Independent National Electoral Commission, has declared the winner of the recently-contested polls. He did not give a date when Can officials would visit the presidential villa though.

“There was no iota of truth in the story. There was no pressure whatsoever from any quarter on the leadership of the association to congratulate Mr President on his victory in the recently held Presidential poll.

“It is a normal thing for Can to rejoice and to congratulate whoever wins the presidential poll in the country because of its political neutrality. We have been doing this before, we did it in 2015 and we are wondering why it has to be different this year,” Reverend Ayokunle added.