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Sentiments
Dominate Issues
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Friction
Between President and Outgoing GS Deepens
CONTESTANTS ARE WARMING UP FOR THE ELECTIONS
TO FILL THE POSITIONS OF VICE-PRESIDENT AND GENERAL SECRETARY OF ECWA, BUT THE
BATTLE FOR THE POSITION OF GENERAL SECRETARY APPEARS TO BE THE MOST
CONTROVERSIAL AND IS CAUSING RIPPLES WITHIN THE CHURCH COMMUNITY. WHY IS THIS
SO? LOVINS YAKUBU FINDS OUT.
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| The outgoing ECWA General-Secretary Rev. Prof. Samuel W. Kunhiyop |
On 24th of April, Evangelical Church
Winning All (ECWA) is expected to conduct elections into the offices of
vice-president and general secretary of the organization. It is however clear
that the election into the office of the General Secretary (GS) is generating
uproar and controversy. At the time of going to press, not less than four
people have expressed interests for the position of General Secretary. They
include: Prof. Sunday Agah, Provost, Bible College, Kagoro; Rev. (Dr.) Joseph
Diyas, Chaplain, Bingham University; Rev. Samuel Atu, Secretary, Jos DCC; and
Rev. (Dr.) Yusuf Biniyat, former Secretary, Kaduna South DCC.
Findings by African
Drum magazine however reveal subterranean moves and power-play by some
clergymen to canvass for their preferred candidates to the position of general
secretary, a development that has made the election campaigns to be lacking in
issues and ideas but merely based on ethnic and regional sentiments. In
consequence, this has created factional groups in ECWA.
An insider informed this magazine that the
forthcoming election has already created friction between Rev. Jeremiah Gado
and Prof. Samuel Kunhiyop, the President and General Secretary of ECWA
respectively. For instance, it is alleged that Kunhiyop is working assiduously
towards having a consensus candidate among three contestants, namely, Agah,
Diyas and Biniyat, while Atu has the support of Rev. Gado.
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| ECWA President Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Gado |
It is further said that the reason why Kunhiyop is
so keen and desperate to have any of his candidates elected to the office of GS
is linked to their common backgrounds as indigenes of Southern Kaduna. It is
further alleged that until few years ago, past ECWA presidents have been Yoruba
while the Southern Kaduna dominated the office of GS. The Southern Kaduna jinx
was broken in 2005 by Rev. Mipo Dadang, a Taroh from Langtang North, while Rev.
Gado also broke the Yoruba jinx in 2012.
It is further said that the emergence of Rev.
Dadang as GS in 2005 did not go down well with Rev. Musa Asake (also from Southern Kaduna), the
then GS, (now General Secretary Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN) who
preferred Kunhiyop. This magazine learnt that Kunhiyop and Asake have perfected
an understanding and the two are said to be working harmoniously to ensure the
emergence of yet another Southern Kaduna GS.
Our findings also show that consequent upon the
above, Gado and Kunhiyop have intensified their campaigns in the over 80
District Church Councils (DCCs) within and outside the country. For instance,
it is said that Kunhiyop has the support of all the DCCs in Kaduna and Abuja
axis while Gado has the support of DCCs in the North-East, South-West and
South-East as well as in Plateau. Gado’s mass support is said to be hinged on
his background as well as promises he made. An example, he is enjoying the
support of the North-East because he comes from the zone; the Yoruba are
supporting him because he promised them the presidency after his tenure; the
South-East is giving him support because he promised they will retain the
position of Assistant General Secretary; while Plateau is supporting Atu who is
from the zone.
Another source close to ECWA headquarters informed
this magazine that the relationship between Rev. Gado and Prof. Kunhiyop became
sour during the campaign period for the Presidency of CAN late last year. Information
from media sources indicated that the General Church Council (GCC) of ECWA had
endorsed Rev. Gado as their candidate for the presidency of CAN. However,
Kunhiyop was alleged to have refused to convey a letter to that effect to other
blocs of CAN which led to Gado’s loss of the Presidency; a situation said to
have drawn the anger of the GCC. It is further alleged that Kunhiyop was
playing Asake’s script who was said not to be comfortable having Gado as CAN
president, which would have meant losing his position as the general secretary
as both of them are from the same denomination.
However, pundits are quick to observe that ECWA had
a better chance to have benefited more from the CAN presidency than from the
office of general secretary. Professor Kunhiyop could not pick a telephone call
put to him by our Chief Editor. However, responding to our text message on the
issue, he said “There is no friction between me and Dr Gado. He is my brother
and fellow worker in the Lord. Concerning the election in April, my prayer is
for God’s will to be done”.
In his response, Dr Asake denied vehemently all the
allegations leveled against him describing the perpetrators as sinners doing
the bidding of the devil and further
advised them to repent to avoid the wrath of God upon their lives. Explaining
further, Asake said that the process of electing CAN President lies with the
blocks adding that national CAN has no power to reject or impose a candidate on
its members, stressing that all written communications from ECWA to CAN
headquarters with regard to the last election were forwarded to the appropriate
offices and challenged those who alleged sabotaged to come up with evidence.
“How can anybody think that I can single handedly
oppose the decision of a block? How would a person think that ECWA will take a
decision but I would ask its General Secretary not to abide by it? This is a
lie. Is Professor Kunhiyop my boy? The
GS of ECWA has nothing to do with this and it would be wrong of anybody to
think that I didn’t want Dr Jeremiah Gado to be CAN President”. He said.
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