Stop Dabbling Into Politics, Arewa Consultative Forum Tells Christian Association Of Nigeria, CAN.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) today urged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) not to dabble into politics but to preach peaceful co-existence and continue with its religious obligations.

The CAN in the Northern States had responded to the expressed position of the ACF that Chief Festus Odimegwu, the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) be removed as he is biased on census issues relating to some sections of the country.

In a rejoinder issued by its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, ACF said it never suggested that the chairman be replaced by a Northern Muslim, but that it issued its advice to the Federal Government to reconsider allowing the 2016 census to be conducted under the current chairman of NPC on the basis is developments since Chief Odimegwu assumed duty.

Those developments, according to the statement, included some commissioners of NPC publicly dissociating themselves from the utterances of their chairman which led to the query by the Federal Government. ACF added that while the forum is not opposed to any management practices that can improve the volume and quality of the census exercises for public good, for the chairman to submit that all past censuses have been manipulated to favour the North may be understood but certainly not acceptable.