We are under no pressure to congratulate Buhari- CAN

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has dispelled reports that alleged that some influential people working closely with the Federal Government were mounting pressure on its leadership to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari, over his victory in the polls.

CAN President, Samson Ayokunle, in a statement on Thursday by his media aide, Bayo Oladeji, maintained that as a religious group, it remains apolitical and would congratulate and rejoice with whoever the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared winner of the fiercely contested poll.

There had been some reports in circulation claiming that some influential persons in government were unrelenting in their persuasion for the Church to pay the President a congratulatory visi.t

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However, CAN has dismissed the report, saying there’s no such pressure mounted on the Church from any quarters.

Its statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a story suggesting that we are under pressure to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on his reelection.

“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.”

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