Nigeria: Akinola’s Successor to Emerge Before December, Says Registrar
From AllAfrica.com
A successor to replace Archbishop Peter Akinola, as primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), would be elected before December.
The Registrar of the church, Mr Abraham Yisa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, in Abuja, that the office of the primate would become vacant by March 2010, when Akinola would have completed his ten-year tenure.
"By the provisions of the constitution, we must elect a new primate at least three months before the expiration of his tenure.
"This is to enable the new primate to understudy a kind of handover," he said.
He said certain processes must be fulfilled before a new primate is elected for the church.
According to him, the primate is elected from among the serving bishops, based on the report by the Church of Nigeria Advisory Committee.
"The committee is composed of one laity and one clergyman elected by the synod of each diocese.
The committee advises the Episcopal Synod (House of Bishops) on the kind of person they would want as primate.
"Here they give the qualities; they do not give names. For instance, he must be an evangelist, married to one wife and a bishop of course," he said.
Yisa ruled out any politicking in the election of a primate, saying " it is not done like in the secular politics that you see people going about campaigning".
"On the day of the election, the first thing the Episcopal does is to fast, pray and go into Holy Communion and the Holy Spirit leads that meeting.
"Remember the case of David and the children of Jesse. What men were looking at was not what God was looking for and David emerged as the "least qualified", he said.
Elected primate of Nigeria in 2000, Akinola had emerged as a strong voice in the Anglican Communion, following his strong objections to homosexual marriage in the church. NAN
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