A N2 billion mobilisation fund allegedly provided by the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi to Christian bodies in the country to mobilise votes for him in the coming general elections is tearing Christian bodies apart, reports thegazellenews.com.
To this end, a Pastor has petitioned the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on the misappropriation of the said fund, threatening to go the hug and file official complain with anti-graft agencies in the country as well as the Federal Ministry of Interior.
Thegazellenews.com can also report that the said Pastor has vowed not to mobilise his congregants to vote for Obi if the share of his church out of the largesse is not released.
Pastor Frank Onwumere of the Dominion Centre International, Okigwe Road, Owerri, wrote to the petition to the National President of CAN. The petition dated, Thursday, 15 December, 2022 was received and acknowledged in the office of the CAN President exactly a week later, Thursday, 22 December, 2022.
The title of the petition was: Petition on the Misappropriation of N2 billion given by the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi to the Churches Under the Umbrella of CAN, Catholic Bishops and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria to further drive his mandate during the Yuletide Season in Churches and to be received in audience by the various Christian Bodies across the Country.
Giving details of the money, Pastor Onwumere stated that the money was provided by Peter Obi to the Churches to help in mobilisation of massive votes from Christians across the country.
However, Onwumere noted that the money was distributed judiciously and appropriately leaving some churches out of the largesse.
“We are appalled and disappointed that such humongous amount of money was given to the Churches by the Labour Party to help and assist in mobilizing and convincing their congregants to vote massively for the candidacy of Mr Peter Obi but to our chagrin the said money has developed wings and cannot be traced,” the petition, in possession of thegazellenews.com reads.
Explaining further, Pastor Onwumere stated that he had earlier convened a meeting with other churches which were shortchanged on the matter before taking the bolder step of writing and submitting the petition.
According to him, investigation by him and other pastors who did not benefit from the largesse indicated that the money was misappropriated by popular churches and pastors.
According to the petition, the money allegedly circulated among few mega churches and tele-vangelists of the Pentecostal churches.
Investigation also revealed that while few Catholic churches confirmed knowledge of the said fund, many others deny ever knowing anything about the said fund.
Pastor Onwumere accused the mega churches of shortchanging the lesser known ones saying, “there is need to write this petition for the world to know what was going on in Christendom”.
He stated that though the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the Winners Chapel and the Dunamis Churches have knowledge of the said fund, they did not take part in its disbursement.
Pastor Onwumere while confirming that campaigning in Churches was against the Electoral Act, alleged that some pastors were charging the Labour Party Presidential Candidate as high as N50 million to appear in their churches and get the support and approval of their congregants to vote for him in the coming elections.
He stated that since his church was shortchanged from the largesse, he will not mobilise his congregants to vote for Obi in the Presidential Election.
He also threatened to write a petition to anti-graft agencies in the country as well as the Federal Ministry of Interior if his church does not get its share of the largesse.
According to him, “this is not the first time such matter will happen”.
He urged the CAN President to call a round-table discussion where how the fund will be distributed judiciously and transparently among all churches will be determined.
