Ahead of the 2023 elections, the Chairman Kaduna State Peace Commission (KAPECOM), Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has urged religious leaders to see themselves as instruments of unity and not allow their personal preferences to get the better of them in relating with the public.
Bishop Idowu-Fearon was reacting to a statement credited to the General Overseer of Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, that, ‘the number of people who vote for APC in 2023 will determine the number of mad people in Nigeria’.
Bishop Fearon stated that it is wrong for any religious leader to tell his congregation to vote for any particular party, because every congregation consists of people with different political views, as democracy is about freedom of choice.
He spoke on the sideline of a meeting of political parties, candidates, and stakeholders for peaceful campaigns and elections in Kaduna State, where 18 registered political parties, 14 Governorship candidates, and candidates for the National Assembly and state House of Assembly signed a peace accord.
The event was organized by KAPRCOM with support from Hope Action Progress, Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW) ActionAid, Christian Aid, Global Community Engagement and Resilient Fund (GCERF), SARVE and Global Peace Development (GPD).
