May 22, 2015 : Friday Olokor
Primate/Head of Anglican Church in Nigeria, The Most Revd Nicholas Okoh
| credits: File copy
| credits: File copy
The
Primate of Anglican Church, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, has called on
Nigerians to be patient with the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari,
insisting that it is very difficult to fix the country within four
years.
The Anglican cleric also said that churches that operate income-generating businesses should pay tax.
The cleric, who spoke with journalists
in Abuja on Thursday, also stated that the Federal Government had
mandated the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the
Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria to map out
measures for the regulation and ownership of churches and mosques in the
country.
“The church is a registered charity
organisation, not minding one person owning a church. What is bringing
the issue of taxation is the one-man ownership of some churches. Since
the church is a charity organisation, there is no need to pay tax. But
if the church has an establishment that generates income, such a church
should pay tax to government.
“There should be a way of regulating
ownership of churches. The Jonathan administration has given the mandate
to CAN and NSCIA. If any of these organisations have hotels, schools
and other outfits like bakery, we have to pay tax,” he stated.
While advising Nigerians to be patient
with the incoming administration, Okoh said Buhari should be given a
year to study the situation and set the agenda properly.
He said, “Nigerians should be patient
with Buhari, otherwise he will worsen things if Nigerians push him to
the wall and rush him into action. Let us give him a year to study the
situation and set the agenda properly. It is difficult to fix Nigeria
within six months.
“You can’t even fix a country within
four years. Buhari has to take pain in making decisions, otherwise
Nigerians will cause trouble for him. So, Nigerians should pray for him
and be patient with him.”
He also challenged Buhari to “do something about corruption” and ignore the numerous songs about it by Nigerians.
“Corruption is not something you wipe
out within six weeks. Giving Buhari the mandate to wipe out corruption
is over-syllabus,” Okoh said.
Okoh also denied the allegation by the
controversial Executive Director of the Voice of Northern Christian
Movement, Mr. Musa Dikwa, that Christian leaders were offered N7bn by
the Presidency to campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck
Jonathan in the last general elections.
According to him, since the allegation
came at a time when the two major political parties were so desperate to
win elections at all costs, the allegation “should be taken with a
pinch of salt.”
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