By Emmanuel Antswen
A socio-cultural organisation, Kunav Progressive Academics, has warned Benue politicians against using church event gatherings for filing political petitions against one another.
Speaking on behalf of the 35 members of the association on Monday in Makurdi, Prof Daniel Chile said the petitioners were only using the “church to pursue a naked political agenda”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dr Elijah Ikpanor is the convener of the group.
NAN reports that five governorship aspirants of Kunav extraction had petitioned Gov. Hyacinth Alia, promoting political violence in the state.
In the petition which was addressed to the four Catholic Bishops in the state, the petitioners accused the governor of “endorsing brute force as necessary for achieving peace”.
The group faulted the petition as ‘half-truths’ presented as facts, metaphors twisted into malice, and ambition dressed in the garb of piety.
They said Gov Alia remained a man of peace, a product of Catholic discipline, and a leader committed to the Gospel values he preached as a priest and now implements as a governor.
They said if the aspirants from Kunav wish to contest elections, they should do so at the ballot box in 2027, not in the sanctuary in 2026.
They therefore urged the bishops to act on the petition with caution, as the petitioners were not sincere in their outings.
“We humbly urge their Lordships, the Catholic Bishops of Gboko, Otukpo, Makurdi, and Katsina-Ala, to receive their petition with due caution.
“The Church must not be used as a tool for opposition politics. We have full confidence in our shepherds’ spiritual discernment to distinguish genuine pastoral concern from political camouflage.
“We agree with the petitioners on one point: the Church must remain neutral. However, neutrality does not mean allowing a group of aspirants to weaponise ecclesiastical authority against a sitting governor simply because they are afraid of his popularity and grassroots acceptance,” he said.
They further called on the Benue people to ignore the distractions and support the governor to rebuild the state.
“Governor Alia is a priest who heeded the people’s call to serve in the temporal order.
“His presence in the church is first and foremost as a baptised Catholic seeking the Eucharist.
“To suggest that his former clerical status is a tool for “gaining access to pulpits” is offensive to the clergy and priesthood generally.
“Our priests and bishops are men of integrity and sound theological grounding; they are not pawns to be manipulated by any politician,” they said. NAN
