By KEMI KASUMU
Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, may have found support in the state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria with the faith-based group’s statement on Monday, which defended his controversial Commissioner-nominees List that has been knocked from both cultural and religious angles as lopsided.
The Lagos CAN defended the list of cabinet member-nominees sent to the Lagos State House of Assembly by Governor Sanwo-Olu for screening with a strong word that it was “based purely on merit, competence, and sufficient capabilities to deliver on the set goals and objectives of the government.”
The state CAN Chairman, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, was specific in his condemnation of criticisms faced by the governor’s choice when he took on some Muslims groups over their remarks rejecting the list.
The DEFENDER reports that, aside Muslim groups including the Joint Muslims Forum and Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) that had taken on the governor for what they called lopsided list favouring only the Christians in the state, some indigenes of Lagos State were also not happy that the governor, who is from Ijebu Mushin in Ogun State, South West Nigeria, showed that owners of Lagos have no relevance to give them adequate representation in his proposed cabinet.
But the CAN chairman, while speaking at a press briefing held on Monday at the Chapel of Christ the Light, Alausa, made a mockery of all the critics particularly the Muslim groups when he described their remarks as “distasteful” and “condescending”.
Bishop Adegbite said, “As you are aware, consequent upon the list of 39 cabinet nominees of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, which was sent to the Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday, 28th July, 2023 for screening and confirmation, a coalition of over 30 Muslim groups, under the aegis of Joint Muslims Forum, rejected the proposed cabinet nominees list. They hinged their dissatisfaction on the fact that out of the 39 cabinet nominees, only eight are Muslims while the rest are Christians.
“This came about a week after another Muslim rights advocacy group, Muslim Rights Concern, had condemned the cabinet nominees list, describing it as illegal, adding that it failed to be fair to the Muslim population in the state.
“We would like to make abundantly clear that these remarks and actions are not only distasteful and way out of line, they are deeply condescending and we refuse to accept any form of faith and religious-based bullying behaviour neither would any semblance of such under whatever guise be tolerated,” Adegbite said.
The CAN leader noted that Lagos had “enjoyed immense peace and prosperity over these years because the managers of its affairs amongst many other key elements have worked tirelessly to insulate the state from any form of religious intolerance or anything close to it.”
“It is imperative to remind the purveyors of these unfortunate divisive rhetoric and toxic narratives, that, the success story of Lagos which today is regarded as a model of a place where people have lived like family and still live as such despite belonging to different faith, creed, beliefs and ethnic backgrounds is a function of respect and commitment to the principles of peaceful coexistence and not for lack of divergent opinion or perspectives on issues that concerns us all including political views and others related to it,” he added.
Genesis
In its online publication headlined “March 11: Controversy, as APC’s Sanwo-Olu becomes ‘Christian candidate’ in Lagos”, published on Wednesday March 8, 2023, The DEFENDER had reported that, “After its failed alleged plot to make Nigeria a Christian State through the ballot in the last presidential election, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is said to have returned to the drawing table, this time, with candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, whom it has now endorsed for second term as Governor of the state.”
Speaking at the same venue where he spoke on Monday, the Chairman of the Association, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, had said that Sanwo-Olu had performed excellently well in the state and deserved the endorsement of the Christian group.
Adegbite said, “We would like to inform the residents of Lagos State that the Christian Association of Nigeria in Lagos and the Christian community in the state are throwing our weight solidly behind the candidacy of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and is deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat for a second term in office.
“Let me say that this endorsement is based primarily on one thing, performance, and nothing else. His achievements in the critical sectors of the economy of the state are endearing, and we are convinced that they need to be sustained,” the Christian Association of Nigeria, which did not support All Progressives Congress (APC)’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, but Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi for the presidential election, returned to Lagos and made Sanwo-Olu his candidate for the March 11 governorship election.
