The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Monday talked tough on the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress, insisting that its opposition to the ticket remained unchanged.
It also said it had not reached an agreement with the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
There was a report on Monday that Tinubu met with the leadership of CAN over the controversy that arose from the party’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 general elections.
Tinubu selected a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima as his running mate, a move which angered the Christian population in the country.
Debunking the report of the agreement between Tinubu and CAN, the Christian body in a statement on Monday maintained that it had not changed its stance on the contentious Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the leadership of the association, Luminous Jannamike, was titled, ‘Muslim-Muslim Ticket: CAN maintains its position.’
The association also warned that Tinubu’s presence and donation at last week’s 70th birthday of Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, should not be seen as a financial inducement bribe to pacify the Christian community.
The statement partly read, “The attention of the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria has been drawn to a media report titled, ‘How Tinubu met, resolved Muslim-Muslim ticket with CAN’, which claimed that the apex Christian body had changed its position regarding the same faith ticket.
“To say the least, the story is ridiculous, malicious, untrue and should be disregarded in its entirety by all reasonable members of the society.
“For the records, CAN took a position against the same faith ticket imbroglio under the leadership of Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle, its immediate past national president and as a matter of fact, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Okoh, stands on that same position.”