The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, on Thursday, called for the balanced representation of Christians in the 2027 elections.
The President of the Fellowship, Bishop Wale Oke, made this known while addressing a press conference at the PFN headquarters in Lagos.
The Christian body also kicked against the call for the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Joash Amupitan.
Oke, who hailed the partnership between Nigeria and the United States of America aimed at tackling insecurity ravaging parts of the country, condemned the killings of Christians and other citizens by terrorists, describing the act as evil, and sought more government action.
When asked what the position of the PFN would be if the President were to choose a Muslim as his running mate in 2027, Oke said it would be a balanced thing for the President to consider a Christian running mate, but noted that the Fellowship could not dictate to the President, as they were not politicians.
“The President is a politician; we are not. His calculus is different from ours. What he knows in the political realm, we don’t know; just as what we know in the spiritual realm, he doesn’t know.
So we don’t venture into that space to dictate to the President.
“But our counsel is this: There are millions and millions of Christians in this nation. Under the umbrella of the PFN alone, we have over 65 million believers. With a good search, the President can pick a Christian Vice President, but if he says he wants to continue to go with the person that he has, we don’t know his calculus. But be fair to everyone, and be just to everyone.
“We don’t want a situation where we have a constitution that speaks about one religion again and again and again, and is quiet about other faiths that are probably larger.
“But as I said, he’s a politician; we will judge him by his performance, and we will not speculate about who he chooses or doesn’t choose, because we are not in the political sphere.
“But there are capable Christians in every geopolitical zone of Nigeria, out of which Mr President can pick a vice president, and that will be the balanced thing to do. May God give him the wisdom in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
While speaking, the National Deputy President of the PFN, Dr Cosmas Ilechukwu, rejected the call for the removal of INEC boss, Amupitan.
“The PFN would like to state clearly that we do not support any group of Nigerians calling for the removal of the INEC Chairman because he expressed his view on national issues.
“He is a full-fledged citizen of Nigeria and has the right to contribute to any national discourse, and that’s exactly what he did, and we must respect his opinion,” he said.
This is in sharp contrast to the comments attributed to the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, which called for the resignation of the INEC chairman and warned that Muslims would neither recognise nor legitimise elections conducted under his leadership.
The PUNCH reported on January 30, 2026, that the SCSN had called for the immediate removal and prosecution of Amupitan, accusing him of compromised integrity over a legal brief in which he reportedly acknowledged claims of persecution and genocide against Christians in Nigeria.
The council warned that Amupitan’s continued stay in office posed “a serious threat” to the credibility of Nigeria’s democratic process and claimed that Muslims would not recognise or legitimise any election conducted under his leadership, alleging that his integrity “is under a cloud.” The President of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, Sheikh Bashir Umar, stated this during the council’s 2026 Annual Pre-Ramadan Lecture and General Assembly in Abuja.
Speaking further on Thursday, PFN’s Deputy President, Ilechukwu, added that the Fellowship supported the Nigerian people “in the outcry against the attempt to avoid the passage of real-time transmission of election results.”
“Nigeria has developed to a point where we must trust our electoral system, and one of the ways is to make sure that our votes count, so we support the transmission of election results through electronic means.”
On the insecurity ravaging the country, the PFN commended the efforts of the Federal Government in combating the menace but demanded more action to curb terrorism.
“We can see the efforts,” the PFN President, Oke, said.
“We see the partnership with America in getting expertise, training, and equipment.
“We commend the Federal Government for the effort, and we appreciate President Bola Tinubu.
“We know this government inherited the challenge, but the government inherited both the assets and the liabilities. So we are praying for Mr President and his team, and we are asking them to double their efforts.”
