24th March, 2011
The Anglican Archbishop of Lagos West, Rt. Rev. Peter Adebiyi, says clergymen should not belong to political parties, although they should participate well in elections.
Adebiyi said in Lagos on Wednesday that there could be confusion in a church where a cleric belonged to a particular party while his flock belonged to other political parties.
The bishop, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that any Anglican cleric wishing to be a card-carrying party member should first resign from church work.
“Our priests in the Anglican Church cannot belong to a political party; if anyone of our priests wants to belong to a political party, he must have to submit his licence first.
“ I am a stakeholder in every party as a church leader; the youth church, the children church and adult church have more than 5,000 worshippers every Sunday and they belonged to various political parties.
“I am not a member of any political party although I advise my members to become political party members, it is left for them now to know who to vote for,†Adebiyi said.
He urged Nigerians to vote for those who would deliver the expected dividends of democracy, instead of voting for parties.
Adebiyi said that the country needed leaders who could generate ideas and lead the country well.
The cleric urged the voters not to allow politicians to buy their votes, saying that the people’s votes remained their powers.