The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Northern zone has said that rather than employing all avenues to implicate former President Goodluck Jonathan and get him arrested, President Muhammadu Buhari and his cronies should spend their mental energy on tackling issues of fuel scarcity, poor electricity and the invasion of Fulani Herdsmen in Nigerian communities.
The apex Christian body argued that it would pay Nigeria more if Buhari tackles these daunting challenges including the ongoing but never ending war against Boko Haram, maintaining that these critical issues are of paramount importance to Nigerians than planning to arrest Jonathan, a development which might cause chaos in the nation.
In a statement by Joseph Hayab, the public relations officer of the Northern zone of CAN said, “what Nigerians need now is availability of fuel, electricity, prompt payment of salaries, security of lives among other issues”, arguing that these issues the essential matters that are begging for urgent attention in the country.
The statement read said, “If the purported plan to arrest Jonathan is to please the international community and prove to them that we are fighting corruption, then let us know that this same international community are busy celebrating him as hero of democracy and even those who seriously wanted him to go for a change to happen are now singing a new song about him.
“Former president Jonathan is deservedly seen in Nigeria and beyond as a hero of democracy because of his actions before, during and after the 2015 elections. As such, it will be an ill-advised for the Buhari administration to initiate the arrest of such a statesman at this time and with the current realities on ground.
“Our government must know that there are individuals serving today that are also being accused of corruption but since there are claims that nothing has been established against them, they are walking and speaking like saints.”
According to CAN, the popularity of the present administration in the country was rapidly dwindling among Nigerians, adding that any plan to arrest Jonathan would set a wrong precedent and could put the nation into confusion.
The group also noted that the ex-president deserves praise and should receive gratitude from those in power today.
“Let it not be that this purported planned arrest is meant to distract Nigerians from speaking or complaining about the reality of what and how they are feeling since the past eleven months, we are afraid that such an action may spark a chain of reactions.
“If our president wants to arrest anything for now then he should arrest the incessant spate of herdsmen attacks in Nigeria which has led to the deaths of almost a thousand of innocent Nigerians under his watch. He should arrest the dangerous slide in the power sector. He should arrest the slide in the economy,” the CAN concluded.
