Governor Umaru Bago has urged Christians to participate actively in politics to secure political appointments in Niger.

“Christians have not been fully participating in politics either with their time, finances and sacrifices. It is time to work as one faith.

“Before, Christians have been just like rolling stones, but now we want them to have focus because if you don’t know where you are going to, you should know where you are coming from,” Mr Bago, represented by the coordinator of Christian Affairs, Pastor Isah Lawrence, told journalists in Minna.

He added, “Christians need to participate fully in politics so that when it comes to the period of appointment, they will be given serious positions. If you do not participate, you do not have the right to demand, or is it automatic?

The state chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Peterock Sadiq, stressed while delivering the address at the house’s 14th anniversary that the church could not afford political indifference.

“Christians should not be excluded from political leadership, appointments, or opportunities; just as no other religious community should be excluded,” he said.

He said their involvement in politics is not a call to rivalry but to fairness and equity through lawful engagement.

“This is not a call to rivalry. It is a call to fairness. We will pursue equity through dialogue and lawful engagement, in brotherhood with Muslim neighbours and traditional institutions.

“We are not a political party. But we are a moral force and a moral force cannot be politically indifferent. When leadership fails, it is not statistics that suffer. It is the farmer, the widow, the schoolchild, the young graduate that fail,” Mr Sadiq explained.