– The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, the Kaduna state chapter, has spoken against the introduction of the religious bill
– The PFN chairman said that over 5,000 pastors would rather obey God than obey the proposed preaching bill
– Governor Nasir El-Rufai cautioned religious leaders against politicizing the bill
– He explained that the bill would allow the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Jama’atu Nasir Islam to check strange ideological beliefs that are not in tandem with Christianity and Islam
The Kaduna state chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has spoken against the introduction of the religious bill. It said that over 5,000 pastors in the PFN would rather obey God than obey the proposed preaching bill currently before the state House of Assembly when passed into law. The Punch reports that Prof. Femi Ehinmidu, the state PFN chairman, expressed concern over the bill speaking at a stakeholders’ roundtable conference on Tuesday, April 19, in Kaduna. The forum titled “Kaduna State Religious Preaching Regulation Bill: Intention and Perception” was organised by a non-governmental organisation, Carefronting Nigeria, with the support of the Canadian High Commission.
Ehinmidu said that the Kaduna state government should be ready to jail the over 5,000 pastors in the PFN if the bill passed into law. He noted that unless the government carried out wider consultations among critical stakeholders, the religious bill was bound to fail. Governor Nasir El-Rufai in his turn cautioned religious leaders against politicizing the bill. He said that the preaching bill he sent to the state House of Assembly had no intention of banning evangelism in the state but aimed at curbing emerging religious extremism. Speaking at the forum, the governor, who was represented by his special assistant on media and publicity, Samuel Aruwan, said that the state government had no ill feeling towards the views of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Jama’atul Nasril Islam and other critical stakeholders, who had strongly criticized the bill.
El-Rufai alleged that some people were trying to politicize the government’s good intention to restore peace in the state. According to him, the bill will allow the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Jama’atu Nasir Islam to check strange ideological beliefs that are not in tandem with Christianity and Islam. Meanwhile, the CAN in Sabon Gari local government area of Kaduna state joined those who have spoken against the proposed religious bill which will regulate preaching across the state. According to the CAN branch, if not properly handled, the bill may lead to religious crisis similar to 2000 Sharia crisis when many lives were lost and properties were destroyed.