By Praise Necherem
A group of pastors in Anambra State has disassociated themselves from the alleged endorsement of the second term bid of Governor Willie Obiano by the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Anambra State, Bishop Eberechukwu David at a prayer rally recently.
Bishop Eberechukwu David, had, during a prayer mega rally organised by the Pentecostal Fellowship, at the Alex Ekwueme Square Awka, which witnessed over 50,000 persons, was said to have apparently endorsed the state governor for the forthcoming gubernatorial election.
The group, under the umbrella of Integrity Pastors and leaders of Pentecostal Churches, described as disgraceful and utterly embarrassing the action by the president, expressing disappointment over the unfortunate incident.
In a statement jointly signed by Pastor Chima Okoye and Pastor Emmanuel Ike and made available to newsmen, the group said the action of the president took them by surprise as he had earlier denied having such intentions during the planning of the rally.
The statement read in part; “We all came to tap from the expected open heavens. We had all come prepared to commune with God Almighty in what was supposed to be an entirely Christian activity.
“Little did we know that the President of the PFN Anambra State, Bishop Eberechukwu David and his cohorts, had other plans. Specifically, to use it as a political platform to achieve his personal mission of endorsing His Excellency, Willie Obiano, for the forthcoming Gubernatorial election.
“During the preparation of the rally, we had some suspicion about the motive and pointedly asked Bishop Ebere and his cohorts if they were planning to endorse Obiano during the rally. They denied it, saying no in strong terms only for them at the gathering of the PFN comprising of many Pentecostal churches to endorse the governor as the announcement implied without the consent of member churches and indeed congregation of the PFN.
“We want to put it on record that the PFN never discussed endorsing any aspirant for the governorship election and will not drag ourselves into blatant political partisanship.
“We are not part of this deceit. Bishop Eberechukwu David and his cohorts clearly spoke for themselves.
“We are deeply disappointed with the unfortunate incident that happened at the rally and we apologise to the people of God within and outside Anambra State who were embarrassed by that.
“It’s indeed disgraceful and utterly embarrassing for us whose integrity and good faith in organising this rally have been significantly questioned.”
While promising to address the ugly development in their next meeting, the group maintained that PFN is not part of the charade, saying “we can only pray and wish that God gives Anambra State a good governor.”