Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has come under fire from Northern Pentecostal Bishops who visited the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, last week. Last Thursday, Archbishop John Praise led a visit to Asiwaju Tinubu.
The clerics were perplexed as to how the former SGF became the mouthpiece of Nigerian Christians. The former SGF had chastised the Bishops for their visit. In their response, the Bishops recalled Lawal’s unwillingness to risk his position and speak out despite the government’s “unimaginable marginalization in appointments to offices.”
In response to Lawal’s condemnation of the visit, Bishop Jonas Katung, President and Founder of Living Stone Church Assembly Jos, said the Bishops should be commended for discussing the concerns of Northern Christians with the APC presidential candidate rather than being vilified out of malice by the likes of Lawal. “My attention has been drawn to a press statement issued by Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, in which he made disparaging remarks about Pentecostal Bishops from Northern Nigeria who met with Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, in FCT Abuja.”
“As Church leaders and concerned citizens, a group of Pentecostal Bishops from Northern Nigeria, the region most impacted by the APC’s same faith ticket decision, decided to engage with Senator Bola Tinubu, the person at the center of the controversy, to express the Christian community’s concerns and fears, and to allow him to explain his decision.” The Christian leaders also stressed that the interface was not an endorsement of the APC’s same faith ticket. The Church is made up of members from various political parties, and because it is not partisan, it must not take an antagonistic stance toward any political party without first fully appreciating their decisions and actions.
“All people of good will should applaud the efforts of Church leaders.” As a result, it came as a surprise to me that Babachir Lawal, an eleventh-hour Christian champion, had the audacity to refer to these Church leaders as fake Bishops in his ill-motivated press statement. The question Babachir Lawal must answer is why he has suddenly found his voice to speak for Nigerian Christians. Babachir Lawal served as Secretary to the Government of the Federation under the Buhari administration for about three years before being unceremoniously fired for conduct contrary to Christian teachings. During that time, Christians experienced unimaginable marginalization in government appointments, and while many concerned Christians expressed their outrage at the blatant injustice on adherents of the faith, Babachir Lawal recoiled to his cocoon, not wanting to jeopardize his position.
“Christians are not fools; they know their leaders and people who have faced dangers, toils, snares, and martyrdom in the name of the Faith.” Babachir Lawal does not, by any means, fit the description of a Christian leader. What was his impact on the Church as Secretary to the Government of the Federation? His sudden renaissance as a defender of the faith is always self-serving and motivated by blind and selfish ambition. He must not be permitted to use the church to fight his own personal battles. He was never present for the Church and thus cannot speak for her. “His portrayal of respected church leaders as fake Bishops simply because they allowed his friend turned enemy a chance to be heard demonstrates how low he will go for selfish ambition, even if it means smearing God’s anointed servant,” Katung explained.
