President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Christian leaders to use their influence to promote peace and responsible political participation ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning them against turning their pulpits into platforms for incitement.
Tinubu gave the warning on Wednesday in Abuja through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who represented him at the 2026 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria and the International Communion of Charismatic Archbishops, Bishops and Apostles at the National Christian Centre.
The President urged the bishops to speak out against vote-buying, hate speech and the weaponisation of ethnicity and religion, while encouraging political actors to focus on issues rather than actions that could threaten national peace.
“As charismatic bishops and fathers of faith, you have a decisive role to play in helping to ensure that Nigeria does not lose. I urge you, therefore, to encourage peaceful and consensual participation in the election,” Tinubu said.
He added: “You should raise your voices against anti-democratic practices, such as vote buying, hate speech and the weaponisation of ethnicity or religion.”
The President also cautioned religious leaders against allowing political ambitions to take precedence over the country’s interests, stressing that elections would come and go but Nigeria would remain.
“This charge would, however, be incomplete if I do not admonish you to please refrain from turning the pulpit into an instrument of incitement instead of the sanctuary of conscience,” he said.
Similarly, Information and National Orientation Minister, Mohammed Idris, urged religious leaders to help strengthen national unity and discourage young people from radicalisation and criminality.
Idris warned against presenting Nigeria’s security challenges as a religious war, noting that people of different faiths had been affected by terrorism and other forms of criminality. He called for greater dialogue, community-based early warning mechanisms and responsible religious leadership ahead of the elections.
Meanwhile, the President-General of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Leonard Bature Kawas, announced the group’s endorsement of Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
“We support him now. We support him today, we support him tomorrow, and we support him for as long as he’s willing to be our president,” Kawas said, declaring that the gathering had endorsed Tinubu for the 2027 presidency.
