{"id":83226,"date":"2026-04-18T15:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=83226"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:49:06","slug":"abuja-chapel-event-can-slams-mischief-makers-over-false-sultan-invite-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2026\/04\/18\/abuja-chapel-event-can-slams-mischief-makers-over-false-sultan-invite-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuja Chapel Event: CAN Slams \u2018Mischief Makers\u2019 Over False Sultan Invite Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Samson Adeyanju\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday issued a strong rebuttal, dismissing as false and provocative claims that the Muhammadu Sa\u2019ad Abubakar was invited to serve as \u201cRoyal Father of the Day\u201d at the proposed Ecumenical Chapel foundation ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>In a press statement, CAN said it viewed the circulating reports and social media posts with serious concern, stressing that no such invitation was ever extended to the Sultan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe state, firmly and without equivocation, that no such invitation was extended to the Sultan by CAN. This claim is false,\u201d the association said.<\/p>\n<p>The body clarified that the controversial material did not originate from its office but was released by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, distancing itself completely from the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond denying the claim, CAN accused unnamed actors of deliberately twisting facts to inflame religious sensitivities and stir unnecessary tension.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeyond its inaccuracy, the narrative appears deliberately framed to provoke religious sensitivities and manufacture controversy where none exists. Such distortions are reckless and unacceptable,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>The association reaffirmed its commitment to both the sanctity of Christian worship and peaceful coexistence among Nigeria\u2019s diverse religious groups, warning that misinformation must not be allowed to undermine national unity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTruth must never be sacrificed on the altar of sensationalism,\u201d CAN said, insisting that any suggestion linking the Sultan to the ceremonial role was entirely unfounded.<\/p>\n<p>It urged the media and the public to act responsibly by verifying information before dissemination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVerify before amplifying, question before believing, and prioritise facts over virality,\u201d the statement advised.<\/p>\n<p>Reiterating its position, CAN maintained that the report was the handiwork of mischief makers and should be disregarded in its entirety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Samson Adeyanju\u00a0 The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Saturday issued a strong rebuttal, dismissing as false and provocative claims that the Muhammadu Sa\u2019ad Abubakar was invited to serve as \u201cRoyal Father of the Day\u201d at the proposed Ecumenical Chapel foundation ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. In a press statement, CAN said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":83227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83228,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83226\/revisions\/83228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}