TheCable

Abiodun Ogunyemi, bishop of Zaria diocese, Anglican communion, says Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, will never be president of Nigeria. 

He said the governor is being groomed to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The bishop said this in a statement shared on the website of the diocese while reacting to the aborted demolition of St George Cathedral in Zaria and the ”planned” demolition of another of the church’s property.

The Kaduna state government shelved the exercise in September. It had said it would not proceed with demolishing the 110-year-old cathedral because of its historical value.

Ogunyemi said any attempt to demolish any of the church’s property will be taken as an assault on Christians.

“Diocese of Zaria is not at war with the governor and we are not religious bigots. We are only fighting for our right. Nobody can stop us from fighting for our right,” he said.

“A letter was written by KASUPDA on the orders of the governor to us to quit the Cathedral premises within seven days, and we responded in the best possible ways together with CAN and other Christian organisations all over the world.

“Rather than apologising to the governor, the governor should apologise to the Church and the general public for embarrassing himself with the quit not

“The governor should stop embarrassing himself with demolition of churches in any part of Kaduna State.

“Any attempt to demolish our shops or our properties in Sabongari market is evil, callous and wicked and will be associated with the wrath of God.

“The whole of the Sabongari market is our land acquired in the early 1900s with genuine C of O, which we have submitted to the state government for re-certification.

“Any attempt by el-Rufai to demolish any of our properties in that market will be a direct assault on the Church in the whole of Nigeria.

“The governor is being prepared for 2023 elections. The governor should know that he will never be president of Nigeria. I speak prophetically as a servant of the living God.

“Let fake Christians and religious spies placed in our Church by a particular religion be aware of the consequences of their actions because heaven is watching.

“May the Lord expose these spies in our midst in Jesus Name. In fact, their actions now show very clearly that they are working for an interest against the Church. The Lord in His mercies will raise help to deliver His Church from fake Christians, fake converts and novices.”

TheCable could not get the comments of the Kaduna state government as Samuel Aruwan, the spokesman, did not respond to enquires.