A parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG in Gombe State, today lectured its members on political participation ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The Nigerian mega Church had in March 2022, set up a department on politics and governance ahead of the 2023 General Elections. The church had received a series of backlash following the creation of the political department. The backlash, however, died down after some clarification by the General overseer of the Church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye.
On Sunday, May 29, Mercyland Parish in Gombe State, sees it necessary to educate its members to participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration and join any political party of their choice.
While delivering a sermon on behalf of the delegation to the Church, a Pastor of the Church, Phillip Jehu said the forum became operational based on the directive of Pastor Adeboye.
The delegation further harped that politics is not dirty, but one that ensures progress, and development, adding that, even if it is dirty, Christians are better positioned to rid it of impurities.
According to him, RCCG is an unbiased, non-partisan entity, stressing that members were free to decide which political parties to support.
Jehu said, “The youth is the strength of every nation (and) the church. We can’t be onlookers and expect a change. The Bible says while men slept, the enemy came and sow tares. If you are not a card-carrying member (of a political party), you can’t determine who leads. You should be part of the process.
“We must be registered. Based on statistics, we (Christians) have voter apathy. Politics can be said to be dirty when we leave it in the hands of dirty people. Ensure that you participate from the ward, local government, state and national levels.”
Also speaking, Okezie Ejeagba encouraged parishioners to participate, adding that when a vacuum is left others a lot of times not capable would occupy it.
He said, “There are those who don’t vote because of security reasons. We are not telling you the party to join, we are not partisan. For those that believe politics is dirty, we will go with water and (detergent) to make it clean.
Also, the pastor-in-charge of Mercyland Youth Church, Sam Elebiyo, encouraged members to register and get involved. According to Elebiyo, the Church would organise a programme hinged on boosting the level of participation in politics.
He said, “Christians are the problems of fellow Christians; they delight in bringing themselves (one another) down.”