ABUJA, Nigeria — The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to combine anti-corruption teaching with arrests of clerics who extort politicians.
The request came from Cornelius Omonokhua, NIREC’s executive secretary, during the council’s Abuja meeting on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
Omonokhua said the council would not support one political party against another.
It had also resolved to condemn statements that undermined peace and human dignity, he said.
The EFCC used the gathering to introduce an interfaith preaching and teaching manual.
Its second edition, prepared through the commission’s Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee, includes facilitators’ guides for Christian and Muslim preachers, Omonokhua said.
Peaceful coexistence and resistance to corruption were the goals of the religious teaching set out in the material, he said.
Omonokhua called for enforcement against pastors and imams who use hate preaching or political campaigns in churches and mosques to obtain money from politicians.
He accused some preachers of serving interests that exploited religion, ethnic divisions, and poverty for personal benefit.
“This would go a long way to stop religious commerce of selling God to make money,” he said.
Omonokhua also urged respect for freedom of religion and conscience.
He thanked EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede for leading the discussion and said the manual offered religious institutions guidance for teaching against corruption.Interfaith Council Calls for Action Against the Commercialisation of Religion
