By Olayinka Ajayi

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has urged President Bola not to relent in its determination to rebuild the economy of the country and restore confidence in the nation’s currency.

It also made a passionate appeal to all opposition political leaders, especially those who participated in the 2023 presidential election and lost, to “drop their tools” and join hands with President Tinubu to build the country at a critical time such as this.

Fielding questions from newsmen after a joint CPFN/PFN meeting in Lagos, the National President of the body, Bishop Wale Oke, stressed that the situation in the country calls for collaboration and unity of purpose to get the country back on track as quickly. PFN advised President Tinubu to urgently ensure a review of salaries and wages so that workers can have what can match the hyperinflation sweeping across the country. He reiterated the fact that the PFN and all its leaders are praying for Tinubu and his team to succeed.

“We appreciate the efforts of the President of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu and his cabinet members. If they fail, Nigeria has failed and it means we all have failed. So we are praying for him and his team.
“But the fact of the matter is that things are difficult and there is hunger in the land. Everything has gone up but salaries have not changed. So, we call on him to tackle the economy. A situation where $1 is almost N2000 is totally unacceptable. When you look at the cost of cement, the cost of flour, you wonder how builders will be able to build their houses or how Master Bakers will be able to bake bread for people to eat. Everything must be done to avoid economic disaster. We, therefore, call on him to ensure that salaries are reviewed for workers to be able to cope. Ensure the prompt payment of salaries and pensions,” he said.

On Insecurity
Addressing the ordeal of insecurity in the land, Bishop Oke urged the Federal Government to hard on kidnappers and make them pay for their crime “direly”. He said “we have called on the government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity the last time. I think the government should make kidnappers pay heavily for their crime. No zone or region is free from the scourge of kidnapping now. Almost every part of the country is feeling its effect and something has to be done about it.”

The PFN frowned at and condemned the extravagant lifestyle and the ostentatious display of opulence by bankers in the country and called for caution by the people in the sector. “We also like to draw attention to the banking sector. In a country where there are no jobs for the youths, people dying, pensioners can’t get their money, yet you have the display of such opulence among bankers. I think the government should sanitise the banking sector and check the growing opulence.”