APC Youth Leader Questions CAN Chairman’s Endorsement of Fintiri Defection

The coordinator of APC Christian Youths in Adamawa State has publicly questioned whether the Christian Association of Nigeria’s state chairman speaks for the organisation’s membership after declaring Christians “comfortable” with Governor Fintiri’s defection to the ruling party.

Joseph Mwadiyale’s statement, released following Rev. Joel Manzo’s remarks during an iftar breaking of fast with Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, challenges the CAN chairman’s declaration that Christians in Adamawa approve of the Governor’s party switch from PDP to APC.

“We are comfortable with your defection to APC,” Rev. Manzo reportedly told Governor Fintiri, the statement prompting Mwadiyale to respond with pointed scepticism captured in his reaction: “COMFORTAWHAT???”

The APC youth leader’s statement raises fundamental questions about CAN’s political positioning. “Is the chairman really speaking the mind of CAN?” Mwadiyale asks, before posing a more provocative query: “If the answer is Yes does this therefore mean that CAN before Fintiri’s defection, endorsed PDP in Adamawa State?”

According to The Gazette News (Nigeria), Mwadiyale’s logic follows straightforward reasoning: if CAN is comfortable with Fintiri moving from PDP to APC, that comfort implies the organisation either previously supported his PDP membership or maintains partisan preferences that shift based on where powerful politicians align.

The statement argues that CAN “is indeed supposed to remain apolitical, focusing instead on religious and humanitarian issues”, positioning Rev. Manzo’s declaration as a deviation from the organisation’s mandate to serve as a unifying body for Christians regardless of political affiliations.

“The recent statement by CAN’s chairman regarding the defection of a political figure, such as Fintiri, to the All Progressives Congress raises serious concerns about the organisation’s integrity and neutrality regarding political matters in the state,” Mwadiyale wrote, his language suggesting calculated effort to create public pressure on CAN leadership.

His statement continues: “For CAN’s leadership to express support for individual political decisions, this has automatically created an impression of political partiality, challenging its role as a unifying body for Christians across Nigeria.”

The controversy highlights tensions that religious organisations face when political developments demand responses from leaders whose constituents hold diverse political views. Rev. Manzo presumably intended his statement to reassure Governor Fintiri that his defection wouldn’t alienate Christian support, but the declaration exposed CAN to accusations of partisan preference.

Mwadiyale argues that such statements “could compromise the integrity of CAN, potentially alienating members who expect the organisation to maintain a strictly religious focus.” The concern carries weight because CAN membership spans political parties, ideological positions, and varying levels of enthusiasm for partisan politics.

Christians who supported PDP might reasonably ask why their religious leadership declared comfort with the Governor abandoning the party under whose banner he won their votes. Christians who belong to the APC but oppose Fintiri’s governorship might question why CAN endorses his entry into their party. Christians who prefer religious organisations stay entirely out of politics might object to any statement on defections regardless of direction.

The youth coordinator poses what he characterises as the “key question”: whether CAN can “effectively balance its spiritual mandate while occasionally commenting on political matters without sacrificing the trust of its diverse membership”.

That framing assumes CAN should occasionally comment on political matters, just carefully enough to maintain trust. An alternative view holds that religious organisations like CAN should avoid political endorsements entirely, focusing exclusively on spiritual guidance, religious freedom advocacy, and humanitarian concerns without expressing preferences about which parties politicians should join.

Mwadiyale’s own position as APC Christian Youths coordinator complicates his criticism. He leads an explicitly partisan religious youth group while questioning whether CAN’s chairman should make political statements. The apparent contradiction suggests his objection isn’t really about CAN maintaining political neutrality but rather about ensuring any political statements CAN makes don’t undermine APC interests.

If Rev. Manzo had declared Christians “uncomfortable” with Fintiri’s APC defection, would Mwadiyale still be defending CAN’s need for political neutrality? Or would he then argue that CAN have a legitimate interest in welcoming Christians who join the ruling party?

The statement concludes by noting that “public perception will likely depend on how the organisation handles future statements and actions in relation to political developments”, positioning the current controversy as a test case for CAN’s approach to navigating Adamawa’s shifting political landscape.

Rev. Manzo’s declaration of comfort with Fintiri’s defection came during iftar, the evening meal breaking Ramadan fasts, suggesting the Governor has been conducting outreach to religious communities as part of consolidating his new political position. Muslim and Christian leaders alike have been receiving such engagement as Fintiri works to ensure his party switch doesn’t fracture the religious support bases that helped him win two elections.

For CAN leadership, the choice involves competing considerations. Maintaining strict political neutrality protects the organisation’s reputation as an impartial religious body but risks alienating political leaders who control resources and access that religious organisations sometimes need. Expressing political preferences maintains relationships with powerful figures but exposes CAN to accusations of partisanship that undermine its claim to represent all Christians.

Rev. Manzo apparently chose relationship maintenance over neutrality, declaring comfort with Fintiri’s defection in language that Mwadiyale now uses to question whether the chairman speaks for CAN membership or just for himself and the faction of leadership aligned with accommodating political power regardless of party label.

Whether other CAN officials or members publicly join Mwadiyale’s criticism or defend Rev. Manzo’s statement will indicate how deep divisions run within Adamawa’s Christian community about appropriate religious leadership responses to political developments.

For now, the APC Christian Youths coordinator has succeeded in creating controversy around what Rev. Manzo likely intended as simple diplomatic courtesy toward a governor whose party affiliation changed but whose power over state resources Christians might need didn’t.

The episode demonstrates risks religious leaders face when political statements intended to maintain access and influence instead generate accusations of compromised neutrality that damage the institutional credibility such statements aimed to protect.