The 2019 governorship race in Akwa Ibom State is said to have torn two religious organisations in the state apart as their two leaders are purportedly locked in a battle royale on who is to control the soul of Government House, Uyo.
Straightnews gathered that the battle among the principal religious leaders to get relevance ahead of the 2019 governorship race has degenerated to fragmentation of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Akwa Ibom State chapter.
Investigations into the recent squabbles between the immediate past chairman of CAN, Arc-Bishop Cletus Bassey and the incumbent, Rev. Ndueso Ekwere have glaringly shown that the two religious leaders have a score to settle
There have been speculations that the current leadership of CAN, Akwa Ibom State chapter had constituted a panel to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of over N100 million gift to the association by Chief Godswill Akpabio, the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
The media reports have generated mixed reactions from members of the public while the major actors had deliberately declined comments on the issue.
Our investigation on the matter has, however, revealed that the squabble goes beyond the N100 million monetary gift to the association, except as a ploy to settle an old score.
An aggrieved member of CAN who craved anonymity, expressed concern that CAN is gradually becoming an avenue for greedy religious leaders to use in amassing wealth.
Another angry member sees the action of the present CAN Chairman as hypocritical because as the Financial Secretary during the time the state government doled out the loan to Christian community, he never raised query nor audited the money.
“If he was aggrieved, why did he not raise audit alarm? If he did not benefit from the money or was not a party to the sharing of the money, why did he not resign honourably? Why is he angry now?
Further investigations on the matter indicated that the incumbent CAN Chairman, Rev. Ekwere, whose emergence, we learnt, was fiercely opposed by his predecessor, had raised serious objections to the formation of All Christian Assembly (ACA) by Arc-Bishop Cletus Bassey.
The subsequent formation of ACA, it is reported, was however viewed by Ekwere as a strategy adopted by Cletus Bassey to re-launch his relevance into the political limelight of the state, hence had seriously opposed its formation.
It is, therefore, believed that it was Ekwere’s inability to stop the formation of ACA that informed the purported constitution of the probe panel to get back at Bassey.
The situation, we learnt, is said to have infuriated some groups in CAN, including the Fathers of Faith, comprising Prelate Sunday Mbang and Rev. Dr. Uma Ukpai, among others.
It is gathered that CAN and ACA had separately endorsed Governor Udom Emmanuel for a second term in the office in 2019 general elections.
Perhaps, this explains why CAN, which ordinarily, ought to remain apolitical, has suddenly become a cheer leading organ for political office holders, wherein, its officers and subsidiaries are busy endorsing one aspirant to the detriment of others, ahead of the 2019 polls.
When contacted on phone to comment on the matter, Arc-Bishop Cletus Bassey said he was not ready to join issues with Ekwere and therefore declined to comment further on the matter.
Ekwere, on the other hand, who appeared uncomfortable to speak with our correspondent as at the time of filing this report, saying he would reach out to the reporter at the appropriate time.
