Ahead of the upcoming 2027 general elections, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has cautioned Christian leaders against using sacred altars to fan political tension, urging faith leaders to promote peace, unity, and issue-based democratic engagement.
The President delivered the charge on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, in Abuja during the grand finale of the 2026 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), held at the National Christian Centre (Ecumenical Centre).
Represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, President Tinubu warned that while political contests come and go, national stability must remain paramount. ”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 stated through Akume. “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.
An election is a contest for service, not a war for survival.” The President called on clergy members across the country to actively speak out against anti-democratic practices, such as vote-buying, hate speech, and the weaponization of ethnic and religious fault lines.
Also speaking at the gathering, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, noted that maintaining unity in a diverse country like Nigeria requires joint effort across all sectors. He tasked faith leaders with using their moral standing to discourage youth from political violence and radicalization while fostering interfaith tolerance.
”No election should be allowed to turn Christian against Muslim, Muslim against Christian, North against South, or one ethnic group against another,” Idris remarked. “Nigeria belongs to all of us.” In his response, the President-General of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Prof. Leonard Bature Kawas, expressed the organization’s commitment to peacebuilding and national stability.
Commending the administration’s policy direction and effort toward inclusive governance, Archbishop Kawas affirmed the synod’s support for President Tinubu’s ongoing economic and national security initiatives ahead of 2027.
