By Ayomide Otitoju
The President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, has cautioned religious leaders against publicly criticizing political officeholders, insisting that private engagement is more effective.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Oke emphasized that clerics have a duty to speak truth to power but should do so behind closed doors rather than through the media.
“If you go through the scriptures, the prophets of old confronted kings when they did wrong. They spoke to them the word of God and brought conviction. Some changed, some were stubborn.
We do the same, but we don’t do it via the media or on the pages of newspapers,” Oke said.
The re-elected PFN president argued that public criticism often makes leaders view religious figures as enemies, whereas private discussions yield better results.
“Why should I be talking about my governor in the newspapers when, with one phone call, I can speak with him? True men of God are not looking for public affirmation or adulation; they just want to do God’s will.”
Oke’s remarks come amid increasing calls for religious leaders to take a more vocal stance on governance and political accountability in Nigeria.
