The Kaduna State branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has denied what it described as “a bogus letter, circulating on social media and other platforms in the name of CAN asking Christians to vote for a specific political party in the governorship race in the state.
The body of Christ’s image in the state is intended to be tarnished, according to CAN, which highlighted that the address, signature, letterhead, substance, manner, and pattern of writing are not authored by CAN.
According to Rev. John Joseph Hayab in a statement released on Tuesday, the false letter’s goal was to ask, “Why? Considering that some desperate politicians want to use us to influence the beliefs of our Muslim neighbors and wonderful brothers. The broader public and Christians alike should kindly disregard this”
The purported letter said, “After the review of the presidential and National Assembly elections that just concluded, all Christians in Kaduna State are requested to vote for a particular political party in the gubernatorial election next Saturday.”
According to CAN, “We are watching to see how far they will go and we know God will humble them and expose their craftiness.”
Rev Hayab opined that the letter may just be an effort by the fake writer to instigate division in the state to help achieve their political agenda, saying, “Well-meaning Christians and Muslims in Kaduna state should know that this letter is not the language of CAN under my leadership.”
“For those who have given themselves to cheap blackmail, we have God in heaven who sees and will judge. Politics should not be this petty and we must not lose our senses of reasoning just to get power by setting people against each other not knowing what may be the consequence,” he advised.
He explained that nothing like that ever happened, but he understands one pastor announced on Sunday in one of the churches mentioning ECWA, Anglican, and CAN.
He alleged that someone in the Church recorded him (Pastor) and sent it to the emperor to get gratification, adding that the emperor quickly gave his IT team to do a video and circulated it to instigate a reaction.
According to him, “Probably the reaction did not catch much attention then they resulted in faking our letterhead, fake office addresses, fake stories, and fake signatures of the Chairman in a press statement in circulation. More so, l do not sign letter but the Secretary of CAN in the state do so.”
He reiterated that the CAN chairman is not a coward, explaining that the statement is not his style of language or pattern of writing and called on the police to properly investigate the source of the fake letter to bring him or her to face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.