Northern Nigeria Union President Protests Elections Held on Saturday
3 September 2018 | According to an August 18 story by the Vanguard news site, Pastor Francis Freeman Daria, president of the Northern Nigeria Union Conference of the Adventist Church, has formally spoken up against the practice of political elections being held on Saturday in the country.
Daria said that it was against the Bible and principles of religious liberty upheld by the Nigerian constitution, to hold elections on Saturday, the Adventist day of worship. The leader claimed that holding elections on Saturdays led to the disenfranchisement of 270,000 Adventists in the country.
The church leader directed his appeal to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission asking them to change current processes to allow Adventists to vote.
According to Vanguard, Pastor Daria was joined at the press briefing by Pastor Yohanna Harry (Executive Secretary, Northern Nigeria Union Conference), Pastor Micah Nasamu (President, North Central Nigeria Conference), Pastor Amos Katia (Executive Secretary, North Central Nigeria Conference), and Elder Emmanuel Ogbonna (Director, Adventist Men’s Organization, Northern Nigeria Union Conference.)
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a major Christian Denomination with a significant presence in Nigeria with over 278,000 population,” said Daria.
“We worship on Saturdays not for personal reasons but Biblical, which are founded in the Scripture and date back to creation.”
