ACYLF TO PRIMATE AYODELE: RESPECT THE LINE BETWEEN PROPHECY AND POLITICS

The attention of the Arewa Christian Youth Leadership Forum (ACYLF) has been drawn to a recent video circulating in the media, wherein Prophet Primate Elijah Ayodele warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against retaining Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that he lacks the capacity for the office.

As a body committed to promoting responsible leadership, civic awareness, and the ethical participation of Christians in politics, we find it necessary to respond with clarity and balance to this development.

Firstly, while we respect the right of every Nigerian—including religious leaders—to hold and express personal opinions, it is important to underscore that such opinions must be guided by wisdom, responsibility, and fairness. Religious leaders in particular, by virtue of their influence and followership, must recognize the weight their words carry. In a pluralistic and fragile society like ours, careless or unguarded public statements have the potential to sow division, weaken institutions, and undermine the credibility of well-meaning leaders.

Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe is a technocrat, an academic of repute, and a man with proven leadership capacity. His emergence as the APC National Chairman represents not just a political appointment but also a generational shift that speaks to competence, inclusivity, and the recognition of merit across Nigeria’s diverse political space. To dismiss his capacity without factual basis is both unfair and unhelpful.

We wish to remind our revered religious leaders that there is a clear difference between prophecy and personal opinion. While prophecy is sacred and should be handled with utmost reverence, personal opinions on political matters should be expressed with caution, without cloaking them in spirituality. Mixing the two only risks eroding public trust in religious institutions and diminishing the prophetic voice when it is genuinely needed.

The Arewa Christian Youth Leadership Forum (ACYLF) therefore calls on all religious leaders—Christian, Muslim, and traditional alike—to exercise restraint, wisdom, and a sense of responsibility when speaking on national political matters. The Nigerian people look up to them not only for spiritual guidance but also for the promotion of peace, unity, and responsible citizenship.

We reaffirm our confidence in the leadership of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe as APC National Chairman and urge Nigerians to give him the benefit of support, prayer, and constructive criticism that will enable him to succeed.

Nigeria is at a defining moment in its democratic journey, and what we need most is encouragement, responsible leadership, and collective commitment to building a stable, inclusive, and prosperous nation.

Signed:

Dunijir Gatama

Chairman, Arewa Christian Youth Leadership Forum (ACYLF)