The General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor Williams Kumuyi, has expressed concern over Christians’ low participation in active politics.

He submitted that they have no right to complain over policy direction if they fail to make themselves available for nation-building.

The General Superintendent stated this during a press briefing to herald the ministry’s annual retreat, tagged; ‘Power for present possession’ and the ‘Global Crusade with Kumuyi’ slated to commence today, at the campground in Ogun State.

He said, “So, if the Christians don’t take part in politics, first off, it means that this side alone without any Christian, will determine the direction we go and will determine what the country becomes.

“And the Christians have no right to complain if they are not available to make things better,” he said.

He urged elected leaders across various helms to consider the plights of the citizens, saying they were entrusted with the responsibilities to bring out the dividend of democracy.

“We all see the condition and what is going on. Our leaders are elected leaders, whether we are thinking of the local government, state and whole nation, or the federal government.”

Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has faulted the pushback by the 19 northern governors against the tax reform bills introduced by President Bola Tinubu.

“As far as I am concerned, that tax bill must go on,” the nonagenarian said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

The new tax bills introduced by the Tinubu administration have been enveloped in widespread controversy and sparked scathing criticisms and stiff opposition from many including the 36 state governors under the aegis of the National Economic Council (NEC).

The 19 governors in northern Nigeria have also unequivocally rejected sections of the bills and called for the withdrawal of the bills from the National Assembly.

Clark, the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), faulted the stance of the northern governors after NEC took a position.

“I was so shocked when I learned that the 19 governors of the north have met again. If 36 of you met, why are you meeting again? The northern governors, most of them, don’t realise what they are doing. So, the double standards, this arrogance of power must stop,” he said.

The PANDEF leader said the President needs wisdom to govern Nigeria “because certain individuals want to run this country as their own country. When they decide to share, they must ask where the money they are sharing comes from. So, you must pay tax”.

Clark also expressed displeasure over the stance of NEC on the tax bills, saying the governors and Vice President Kashim Shettima are turning the council into an executive body.

He said, “I was shocked when the 36 governors under the chairmanship of the vice president discussed that Mr President should set aside the bill for further consultation. Not only that, the 19 northern governors came together and met but they should ask themselves what have we gained for dividing Nigeria. 19 governors, 17 governors, Today you have Progressive Governors, PDP Governors. These are not helping Nigeria.

“That body (NEC) is a constitutional body set up by the constitution of Nigeria as an advisory council under the chairmanship of Mr Vice President should meet with all the governors attending but today the governors have converted that council to an executive body. They have now gone into politics.

“The question is who are they going to consult? How many times have they consulted their people? They don’t stay at home. They are always in Abuja thinking that they will get more money.”

Clark said Nigeria does not belong to the President and he should stop appointing his allies as ministers.

“I think the leadership should embrace everybody in this country…But today, you look for all your friends, whether they are competent, whether they are honest; it’s wrong.

“Nigeria does not belong to Mr President; Nigeria belongs to everybody. Every Nigerian is equal. And unless we believe that every Nigerian can rise to the top of the position, otherwise there will be no Nigeria, the problems will be there,” he said.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the three recent food stampedes in Nigeria as “an ugly testament to the alarming level of misery, poverty, hunger, starvation, sense of hopelessness and desperation for survival currently plaguing our nation” under the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

In a statement on Sunday, PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba said the tragic stampedes at private food distribution events in Oyo and Anambra states as well as Abuja which claimed the lives of over 60 citizens could have been averted.

The PDP commiserated with the families of the victims of the three food queue stampedes and called for urgent medical attention for the survivors.

The party said, “The PDP is devastated that the APC-led administration has wrecked our once thriving economy and pushed millions of Nigerians deeper into abject poverty and hunger with many citizens, not being able to afford their daily meals, now resorting to suicide and desperate measures including slavery mission abroad and fighting for crumbs for survival.

“It is heartbreaking that despite our abundant resources as a nation, Nigerians have been subjected to agonizing life where they die struggling for food.”

The PDP said the APC administration should wake up and not continue in “arrogant false performance claims including empty assurances of food sufficiency while deliberately failing to make the required investments to boost the productive sector, particularly in agriculture and food production”.

The party said the Tinubu government should immediately “review the hasty implementation of the suffocating policies of abrupt increase in the price of petroleum products and the floating of the Naira, despite the crippling consequences on the productive sector and life-discounting effect on the citizenry”.

The PDP called on Nigerians to hold the Tinubu-led APC administration responsible for the remote cause of these tragic occurrences for which it must recompense.

“Our Party insists that any administration that is sensitive and cares for the people would have since introduced intervention programmes to ease the suffering and improve on the welfare of the masses which is the primary purpose of government,” the PDP said.