Bishop John Ibenu will lead the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kogi State chapter as the chairman for the next three years. He was elected during the association’s annual general assembly and election held at Emmanuel Anglican Church Lokoja recently.
Bishop Ibenu was elected following the expiration of the Arch Bishop Emmanuel Egbunu’s -led executive. Ibenu is to oversee the affairs of its members in the state from 2016 to 2019.
Other State officers elected included; Special Apostle I.I. Okeme as Vice Chairman, Rev Charles Aino as Secretary and Elder C.O. Abraham as Assistant Secretary while Sir M.S. Bayo was elected as Treasurer.
The new Chairman, who is also the General Overseer of Chapel of Freedom Int’l churches Lokoja, was unanimously elected the state CAN leader with overwhelming support from the 142 delegates comprising the five blocs that made up of CAN.
In his acceptance speech, Bishop Ibenu, who said his team is trusting God to take the association to the next level, called on all Christians in the state to pray and join hands with the leadership for peaceful co-existence among the people.“Our prayer is that God under the present leadership will foster unity in the church, Kogi State and Nigeria”.
While commending the previous administration for its level of maturity and smooth transition, he promised to consolidate on the achievements of his predecessor, Arc Bishop Egbunu and ensure that CAN in the state fulfil the purpose for which it was established.
Earlier, the North Central Zonal Vice President of CAN, Rev. Yakubu Pam, who monitored the election, charged the newly elected executives to be available at all times. He noted that one of the things destroying the association in the country is lack of availability. Elections were conducted amongst the five blocs of CAN.
CAN was founded in 1976 containing numerous Christian denominations made up of five blocs namely: Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN/CBFN), Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) and ECWA/ECANKAR.
Credit: Graphic
