The Assistant General Secretary, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle Biodun Sanyaolu, on Friday in Abuja, said his acceptance of an offer to serve as the Deputy Coordinator, Stakeholder Relations, in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council was a personal decision that had nothing to do with the apex Christian body.
Sanyaolu also disclosed that he had been a card-carrying member of the APC since 2020, and had also contested for the Ogun Central senatorial ticket in the party’s primaries in May this year.
He spoke while reacting to the controversy that trailed the appearance of the names of about eight CAN officers and members in a “revised list” of the APC presidential campaign council despite the public stance of the Christian body against the same-faith ticket ahead of 2023 elections.
However, Sanyaolu urged the public to place a distinction between his personal life and position in CAN; stressing that he had been active in partisan politics in the past three decades and had served as a Commissioner in Ogun state government between 2003 and 2007.
He said, “It is pertinent for me to state that as a member of CAN and an Apostle of the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim & Seraphim (ESOCS) Church, I have been in partisan politics for some over three (3) decades.
“I have been involved in politics from the grassroots to state and national level. In the course of my political sojourn I have had cause to be a member of several political parties and lately, the All Progressives Congress (APC). My participation in partisan politics is largely known to the Church, members of the congregation and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“On the return of democracy, I served in the cabinet of Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Governor of Ogun State as Commissioner between 2003 and 2007. I was later appointed as the Chairman of the Ogun State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board based on my publicly known religious postures and involvements,” he said.
