President Bola Tinubu has called on Christian leaders to champion peace and responsible conduct ahead of the 2027 general election, cautioning against turning the pulpit into a tool for inciting violence or deepening religious divisions.
The President spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the 2026 International Synod of Charismatic Archbishops, Bishops and Apostles, held at the National Christian Centre.
Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Tinubu urged the Church to help bridge denominational and religious divides in the interest of national peace and security, noting that political contests are temporary while Nigeria endures.
He charged the bishops to speak out against anti-democratic practices such as vote buying, hate speech and the weaponisation of ethnicity or religion, and to insist on issue-based campaigns from political actors.
“This charge would, however, be incomplete if I do not admonish you to please refrain from turning the pulpit into an instrument of incitement instead of the sanctuary of conscience,” Tinubu said.
The President also acknowledged the hardship Nigerians have endured under ongoing economic reforms, assuring citizens that the Federal Government remains focused on improving household incomes and easing the burden of the reforms.
Also speaking, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, urged religious leaders to steer young people away from radicalisation and criminality, and to support community early-warning systems and dialogue. He stressed that preserving national unity was a responsibility that extended beyond government to all sectors of society, including religious leadership.
Idris reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting religious freedom, insisting that no election should be allowed to set Christians against Muslims, North against South, or one ethnic group against another.
In his remarks, the President-General of the Christian body, Archbishop Prof. Leonard Bature Kawas, declared the conference’s continued backing for Tinubu ahead of 2027, saying the Church would sustain its support for the administration through prayers, advocacy and public engagement.
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