Simeon Mpamugoh
Apostle James Grand Okocha is the president-general, Christian Ministers Universal Forum (CMUF), a pressure group that is geared towards bringing political and civic awareness to the church; not just in Nigeria, and Africa but also globally.
Okocha who is also the Senior Pastor, Life Givers Assembly observed that the church has abandoned the fundamental mandate of Christ, which is leadership adding that politics was a reflection of what was ongoing in heaven on earth.
What informed the birth of Christian Ministers Universal Forum (CMUF)?
We found out that the church has left the fundamental mandate of Christ, which is leadership. From Genesis to Revelation, the bible is not teaching two things: it is leadership. Between God and devil, it is leadership. While all the pastors are preaching, it is leadership, you see the prophets prophesying, and it is leadership. For everything, it is all about leadership. The pastor preaches, and the ministers need to prove to the people that God can heal, or he preaches prosperity to tell the people that God can prosper them, which is exactly what the politicians are doing. So, pastors are like campaigners running the campaign of heaven on earth. So, when you look at it critically, politics is just a reflection of what is ongoing in heaven on earth.
What do you think about government’s continued assurance that the forthcoming election would be transparent and credible?
If we really desire to have a credible election, the first thing government should do is to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be truly independent. The practice among government of favouring relatives, especially appointing them to head certain positions in INEC must be halted. That is where credibility begins. There is no how my brother would be a referee in a boxing bout I’m involved, and he would not give me victory. So, the Federal Government should show to Nigerians that they are people of integrity as they proclaim to us.
We want to see them stay clear off any interference on INEC rules for the conduct of the election because we want the electoral body to conduct credible election like it did in 2015; whereby the loser went home, believing he has lost the election. Nonetheless, as far as I’m concerned, and from the way things are going, especially with the recent suspension of the Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, it gave government away that the election may not be smooth, transparent and credible. The Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, (CCT) Umar Danladi reportedly had a case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), they have not suspended him. He is still the chairman of the tribunal. The case of CJN is an allegation, and one cannot be said to be guilty until court of competent jurisdiction pronounces him guilty. So, Onnoghen is still innocent until proven otherwise. What we have is an allegation of corruption against him. And if that is the case, why would the president immediately sworn in another CJN without fully exhausting the legal process. We are not saying that Onnoghen must be the one to head the justice administration of the country, but that if government must deal with him, it should not be without recourse to the law and due process. The appointment of the new CJN; Justice, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed ought to have gone through Senate Committee screening, not the way it was handled by the presidency. And this arouses feelings of doubt and suspicion in this administration conducting free and fair election. So, we are calling on all well meaning Nigerians and rights groups to make sure that the country remains a place where rule of law and due process is upheld.
Government has told Nigerians that they would conduct free and fair elections. We are waiting for them. We would make sure that our votes count. We would vote, take records, and protect our votes to ensure it counts. Again, everything boils down to Nigerian electorate. We are the people to make it happen through vigilance because democracy belongs to the people. So, if we mean it; our votes would certainly count.