The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest pastors and imams who use churches and mosques to extort money from politicians.
The Executive Secretary of NIREC, Prof. Cornelius Omonokhua, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the NIREC meeting, where the EFCC unveiled its Inter-Faith Manual.
Omonokhua urged EFCC to go beyond publishing the manual to taking enforcement action against clerics who turn worship centres into political campaign grounds.
“EFCC should go beyond the anti-corruption manual to arresting Pastors and Imams who publicly preach hate or carry out political campaigns in the Churches and Mosques to extort money from partisan politicians,” he said.
He described the practice as religious commerce, warning that some professional preachers have turned faith into a business venture.
“This would go a long way to stop religious commerce of selling God to make money,” he said.
He said the wrong concept of God can produce fake, professional and accidental pastors and imams who mislead their followers with hate speeches.
According to him, such preachers serve interests that weaponise religion, ethnicity and poverty for personal gains.
He said religious corruption is priest-craft, likening it to witchcraft when it destroys human life and undermines human dignity.
“We thank the EFCC for their manual which we hope would stop religious preachers and teachers from religious corruption and religious motivated corruption through professional and fake preaching,” he said.
He said NIREC had resolved to condemn any statement that contradicts peace and human dignity and to remain non-partisan in politics.
“NIREC also resolved not to be partisan by supporting a political party against the other,” he said, urging Nigerians to respect freedom of religion and conscience.
He stated that the EFCC’s preaching and teaching manual, which was launched, was facilitated as a guide for both Muslims and Christians through the Interfaith Anti-corruption Advisory Committee, IAAC.
“The Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee, IAAC of the EFCC has published the second edition of the anti-corruption preaching and teaching manual for Christians and Muslims in Nigeria along with the facilitators’ guides.
”This is to assist preachers share the authentic teaching of religion with the hope of promoting peaceful co-existence and fight corruption,” he said.
He thanked Olukoyede for leading the anti-corruption conversation, adding that the manual is important because it provides a guideline for teaching and preaching anti-corruption among religious institutions.
“No nation can flourish in the face of corruption at all levels. We thank the EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede for accepting to lead us in today’s conversation.
”The anti-corruption manual is imperative because ignorance of scriptures is ignorance of God. Through the scriptures of different faith traditions, you can know about God.
“Any religious person, pastor or imam who is corrupt cannot claim to know God,” he said.
