Pose election violence Probe Panel: Northern christians reject chairman

The Christian Association of Nigeria in the 19 Northern states and Abuja on Sunday kicked against the Federal Government’s appointment of an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, as the chairman of its recently constituted 22-man panel on the post-election violence that occurred in some states in the North over the outcome of the April presidential poll.

The Northern CAN argued that its rejection of Lemu as the chairman of the panel was predicated on the antecedents of the Islamic cleric as well as his perception of the Christian faith.

“Lemu, as Grand Khadi, and as one of the brains behind the introduction of the Sharia legal system, which caused serious upheaval and killings in the North, is not qualified to chair such important panel charged with the responsibility of addressing this very sensitive issue,” the Northern CAN alleged.

It also decried the failure of the Federal Government to seek the input of the CAN leadership in constituting the panel.

It noted that no Christian from any of the seven Northern states, where the post-election violence occurred, was represented on the panel.

The Christian body said it was at a loss on the appointment of the Lemu to head the panel as it found it hard to believe that President Goodluck Jonathan had taken the right decision on such a very important body whose major aim was putting an end to the incessant bloody crises that had been the bane of the North.

The association, in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Archbishop Peter Jatau, and Secretary, Elder Saidu Dogo, alleged that Lemu was an interested party whose neutrality in handling such a sensitive matter would remain questionable.

It added that Lemu, at 82 years of age, was not likely to still possess the physical and mental capacity and capability to carry out such a daunting task of investigating the causes of the post-election violence that rocked the country in April.

CAN therefore stated that the cleric’s appointment by the Federal Government as the chairman of the panel had dampened the hope of the Christian body that the government would get to the root of the violence which had become a recurring decimal.

It argued that Lemu was not qualified to be the chairman of the panel, adding that it had therefore rejected the composition of the body.


“It is rather unfortunate that in raising the panel the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria was never consulted to make input on Christian representation.

“Again, no Christian from Kaduna, Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Borno, Niger and Zamfara states, where the violence took place, are represented at the panel,” CAN said.

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