A group of female clergy, Women in Clergy, has backed the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr. Jonathan, the presidential candidate of the peoples Democratic Party, PDP, faces a stiff challenge from All Progressive Congress’ Muhammadu Buhari.
The decision of the group, comprising female pastors and other Christian women, was disclosed by its President, Prophetess Nonie Roberson in a statement after a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
According to her, the women decided to endorse the president because after seeking the face of God, ‘’we heard Him tell us that President Jonathan is the man for the season,’’ adding that God has not removed the mandate from the president.
“We have the mandate of God because we are like watchmen; we have sought the face of God, we have prayed and we are not ashamed to say that the scepter is still in the hands of Jonathan. Though the battle will be fierce, we are not moved by sight or what we see; we are moved by divine direction. Jonathan will come back” Roberson said.
The group maintained that Mr Jonathan’s administration has supported womanhood, thus, he should be relected.
“Forget about the propaganda that is going on; there is no leader in this country that has affected and pushed the cause of womanhood as President Jonathan has done.
“As women, we have been able to move away from the noise about change or transformation and researched into things President Jonathan has accomplished in office and discovered that he has outperformed all those that came before him”, Robertson said.
She laughed off talks that the president is clueless or slow, adding that taking a look back at where the country was when the president took over shows that the nation has made tremendous progress in the right direction.
“The nation has moved forward in a steady manner, which is better than having a Buhari who will come in and move us rapidly backward. As women, who God has set as watchmen over this nation, we will not allow that to happen. How do we support a man who wanted the office of the First Lady scrapped? We are not sure what other obnoxious laws would be made to enslave us in future. We still want to enjoy the current religious freedom we enjoy, and nobody is going to change the positive direction we have being moving”, she said.
On the strategy to be employed by the group in rallying support for the president, Prophetess Nonie said the group have been praying, fasting and holding night vigils for the reelection of the president.
She however added that they are not ignorant of the fact that faith without work is dead, and for that, they have decided to employ the Nehemiah model, by also taking the campaign to the people on the street and in the villages.
“We are embarking on a sensitization programme for women and youths, by showcasing what the president has done in the last four years. Our tentacles go right down to the grassroots; just yesterday, we had women from all over the states including Borno here in Abuja for a strategy meeting, and by next week, we shall start visiting and giving them tools in different languages. We cannot afford to go backwards because of change”, she said.
She urged women to pick up their Permanent Voters Card and vote on election day.
“We are calling on Nigerian women to go all out and collect their Permanent Voters Card, PVCs, as it is very important. The devil you know is better than the so called angel of change we do not know. Women should endeavour to sacrifice the elections day, stay there with their PVCs and vote for Jonathan,’’ Roberson advised.
