The Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, in Benue state, Revd. Frederick Ikyaan has debunked speculation that he will abandon his calling at the pulpit for his politics.
Revd. Ikyaan in a chat with The Next Edition, in Makurdi, said he was not leaving the pulpit rather he was coming into politics to extend the boundaries of the pulpit.
The Governorship hopeful said “As a pastor in politics, it’s not as if I’m veering off to something else. I’m simply turning attention to one other aspect of life from which no man is excluded.
“Some ask if I’m leaving the pulpit. No, I am not. If anything, I am rather expanding the boundaries of the pulpit beyond its traditional limits.
“The pulpit is life, the pulpit is calling. Wherever a man finds himself, he can still express his calling. As a pastor now, I can still express myself be it in politics, in business or in governance, whatever it is. I’m still a pastor because it’s a life thing.
He therefore called on the Benue public to support him to win the governorship election come 2019 saying that “as a governor of the state, I will practice politics as someone who is a pastor, one that reconciles humanity with God.”
Ikyaan admonished the people of the State to be wise during the voting and not to trade their conscience in exchange for money.
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He cautioned that some desperate politicians have stormed Benue communities to buy their votes through purchase of PVCs and urged the people to desist from selling their votes for stipends saying their vote was their power and it must be used wisely.
He pledged to take the youths off the street by revamping the socio economic fortunes of the state through industrialization naming security, business and mechanised agriculture, women and youth empowerment, health, among others as areas of priority.
Ikyaan urged the people to look up to God, noting that his coming into the race was to redeem Benue and give God a place to uplift the state.