Christian elders and the National Prayer Altar argue that CAN’s 50th anniversary is a time for criticism and reflection, not celebration. They accuse the Christian body of aligning with groups hostile to the Church. This rift is clear in the controversy over a ₦25bn airport chapel project and claims of a ‘parallel CAN Secretariat’ in Aso Rock. Meanwhile, many Christians remain in IDP camps. KEHINDE ADEGOKE reports.
The National Prayer Altar (NPA) has sharply criticised CAN’s leadership, asserting that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has failed in its core responsibilities and that the upcoming golden jubilee in August 2026 is not cause for celebration, but rather marks a time to address these failures.
In its April 27–May 3, 2026 prayer bulletin, the NPA urged that CAN’s 50th anniversary be marked by sober reflection and mourning rather than celebration. The NPA argued the milestone should prompt regret over missed opportunities that, in its view, have led to bloodshed in the Church. Since April 2022, the NPA has led daily intercessory prayers for Nigeria, and it delivered this assessment.
The bulletin titled “CAN at 50: What Is To Be Celebrated?”, is a direct critique of CAN’s leadership. It claims there is a systematic collapse of Christian leadership, deliberate sabotage of church defence, and a “pro-Islam posture” by CAN officials, reinforcing their central argument that CAN has lost its foundational purpose.
FROM STABILITY TO GENOCIDE
When CAN was founded in 1976, the NPA notes, “Christianity in Nigeria was in a stable condition.” Churches were not burned. Christians were not murdered for their faith. There were no Christians in IDP camps, and Christian communities were not being sacked. Fifty years later, the bulletin states, Christians are murdered in tens of thousands for no crime other than their faith. Church buildings are destroyed in their thousands, and Christian communities are sacked in their hundreds.
The platform attributes the crisis to “compromised leadership” within CAN, especially since 2016.
THE STRUCTURES THAT WERE BUILT — AND DESTROYED
Among the most explosive claims in the bulletin is that a previous CAN administration “worked assiduously to put structures in place to mitigate the onslaught of the Islamists.” These included a plan to fund the Church, a Strategic Plan to build institutional capacity, and a Christian Political Consensus to contest Muslim state power. A succeeding administration, the NPA alleges, “destroyed those plans and forged a relationship with the Muslims.”
The result, they state, is that today, the Nigerian Church lacks a plan, funds, or political clout.
This allegation is backed by documented engagement. The bulletin says the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) produced a 184-page report for CAN. This came after fact-finding with all CAN Blocs and administrative arms in 2015. Since 2017, the NCEF has repeatedly engaged CAN’s leadership, up to the National Executive Committee (NEC) level. They raised “serious concerns about the direction in which the Church was being taken.” However, the bulletin says these concerns were consistently deflected or ignored.
THE ₦25BN CHAPEL, THE SULTAN, AND A “PARALLEL SECRETARIAT.”
The strongest claim of compromise from the NPA centres on a newly found invitation card. The card shows the Sultan of Sokoto—leader of Nigerian Muslims—was invited as “Royal Father of the Day” to the start of an Ecumenical Chapel at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
TheDiggerNews.com can report that the chapel project was flagged off on April 26, 2026, by SGF George Akume. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo and CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh also attended. The project has a construction value of ₦25 billion. This sum has since sparked separate controversy. The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) accuses the Federal Government of religious favouritism over the project.
When Christians complained about being invited to the Sultan’s event, CAN said it did not send the invitation. It blamed the SGF’s office. The SGF did not respond. The Sultan did. He said he was officially invited by CAN. The Sultan said CAN’s denial made no sense.
The NPA reaches a harsh conclusion from CAN’s own defence. “By blaming the SGF, CAN simply told the Church that a parallel CAN Secretariat runs in the SGF’s office. This parallel office plans programs, invites dignitaries, and sends invitations in CAN’s name. All this happens without the official CAN Secretariat’s knowledge or approval.”
The group asks: “Are there no Christian leaders who could have been invited?”
“THIS IS WAR, NOT A THEOLOGICAL DEBATE”
The bulletin’s prescription is as unsparing as its diagnosis. It delivers its assessment forcefully, like a military report. It notes that the current Sultan of Sokoto is “not an Imam,” but “a retired Brigadier-General and an Intelligence Officer.” According to the bulletin, those who appointed him did so deliberately. CAN, in contrast, “sent theologians to engage him. The outcome is what is going on.”
The NPA invokes the biblical account of Jephthah—an outcast warrior recruited by Israel’s elders when soldiers failed. It calls for an urgent infusion of “laity professionals” into Christian leadership. These should include lawyers, intelligence professionals, political strategists, and security thinkers. “The clergy is embarrassed because they cannot handle this level of engagement,” it states. “This is not a theological debate; it is war!”
The platform calls for major reorganisation of CAN before its August 2026 anniversary. It warns that prayer and fasting alone will not solve the leadership crisis. Structural change and accountability are essential.
SEVEN COUNTS OF FAILURE
The NPA formally charges CAN’s recent leadership with seven institutional failures. They cite the commercialisation of Christian leadership and “outright betrayal of Christian interests.” Other failures: complicity in deaths of tens of thousands, abandonment of millions in IDP camps, failure to support persecuted brethren, destruction of mitigation structures, “degrading of Christianity in Nigeria,” and a “pro-Islam posture” by current CAN officials.
At a recent Christian gathering, most participants rated CAN leadership performance as 1 out of 10, according to the bulletin.
By press time, CAN had not formally replied to the bulletin.
This is TheDiggerNews.com‘s first report about CAN at 50. More stories will come as events unfold.