This morning, we engage three statements from three politicians — two Nigerian and one American — and weigh each one from a Christian perspective.
The following are the views expressed by Olufemi Oguntokun in the June 8, 2026 episode of the On the Lord’s Side Podcast — Christian perspectives on news and current events.
Good morning to you once again. It is Monday, the 8th of June 2026, and this is On the Lord’s Side — Christian perspectives on news and current events. This morning I want to engage with three statements, three different views attributed to three politicians: two of them from Nigeria, and the third from a senator in the United States.
ON GOODLUCK JONATHAN AND THE “GO TO COURT” REFRAIN
I want to begin with former President Goodluck Jonathan, who governed the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party. He is notable, among many other things, for being the first sitting, democratically elected president in Nigeria to be defeated in a general election — and as you know, that is not a common thing in Africa.
If you look at other democracies — parliamentary democracy in the United Kingdom, or the United States, where presidents have sought re-election, lost, and handed over to the man who opposed them — you find it happens. But it does not happen regularly in African democracy, for reasons well known to both you and me. In Nigeria it happened in 2015, when President Buhari defeated President Goodluck Jonathan, who was then the sitting president.
But that is not the point this morning. President Jonathan has been out of office for about ten years now, since 2015. General elections are scheduled for next year, 2027, and there are some people in the polity asking him to contest again. I have heard him say on a number of occasions that he would not. Yet many people feel he has not been as categorical as he could be, and from time to time he has used strong expressions to register his dissatisfaction with the state of the polity.
And tell me — who will not be dissatisfied with the state of the polity in Nigeria today? Whether you are talking about the absence of the rule of law, or the bastardization of the rule of law and of the judiciary, or what many have termed state capture: the domination of the institutions of state by a single person or a single party.
At the last election — which was flawed, even from an objective, non-partisan perspective — one refrain became ubiquitous, a sad refrain in our polity: go to court. When people complained about the lack of transparency in the collation of results, about the obvious flaws and irregularities, those who were the beneficiaries of those irregularities — or, to be charitable, those who were declared winners — said to the others: go to court.
Now, in normal climes, all other things being equal, what could be wrong with that? If someone says to you, “Are you aggrieved? Do you think I have cheated you? Then go to court,” that should be the sensible thing to do. In fact, it would be the legal thing to do, the right thing to do, because you would be submitting your dispute for adjudication before a panel of impartial judges. Do not fight it out in the streets, or on the pages of newspapers, or on social media. Do not heat up the polity. Go to court.
That would be a wise and desirable option — if you had an independent judiciary, and if you were assured that the dispute would be adjudicated by competent and impartial judges. But in Nigeria of late, those who do not wish to bury their heads in the sand have come to understand that this is not always the case, especially when it comes to political matters.
I say all this to lead up to a statement credited to former President Goodluck Jonathan. He made it recently — over the weekend, around the 6th or 7th of June — while speaking at an event tied to the Nigerian Bar Association, Yenagoa branch, in Bayelsa State. President Jonathan is himself from Bayelsa in the south-south of Nigeria. The speech was focused on justice institutions and national development, and the clip has now gone viral on X. He said:
“We see government institutions doing the wrong thing and telling people to go to court.”
Then he alluded to what he called an East African proverb. I have not yet verified that it is truly East African — perhaps Patrick Lumumba can confirm — but the point stands. He said:
“When a thief tells you to go to court, just know that his brother is the judge.”
If that is truly a proverb — whether from East Africa, West Africa, Europe, or Asia, from any civilization whatsoever — it is a truly wise one. When a wrongdoer who is not repentant says to you, “Go and report me to those who have the power to punish me,” only one kind of person has the confidence to say that: the one whose conscience is clear. But there are cases — what we call in law res ipsa loquitur, where the facts speak for themselves — where everything points to the man who has done wrong. And instead of him saying, “Look, I can explain,” he says, “Go to court,” meaning: I do not owe you an explanation, I will not put up a defence, go to the person who has authority over me — knowing full well that the person who has authority over him is his own brother.
The meaning is unfortunately plain: politicians in Nigeria, especially those advantaged by this broken system, have also pocketed the judiciary. And so they are bold enough to say to the dissatisfied, “Go to court.” This comes amid ongoing political tension, particularly in Rivers State, with the high-profile feud between Governor Fubara and former Governor Wike, where many believe one side has been leveraging the pliable nature of the judiciary — and I am being as charitable as possible.
This is a sharp observation about corrupted systems, where those in power twist justice into a tool for the powerful rather than a shield for the weak. As Christians, we do not have to look far in the Scriptures to see God’s heart on this. Justice must be a shield for the weak, for the cheated, for those who have no voice in society. It must never become a tool for the powerful. Go and read Proverbs 17:15: Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent — the LORD detests them both.
I have said this over and over on this programme, and at some point I intend to do a proper write-up on God’s interest in justice in human affairs. God is so invested in justice that for Him it is a sine qua non — that without which you cannot be His. You cannot be on His side if you do not love justice. You cannot claim to be godly if you do not love justice. And I am not even speaking here of the justice administered by courts and judges, but of justice between one person and another. What is justice at its most basic? To give to each man his due. If it is Mr A’s right to have something, then even if you hate Mr A with all your heart, give him what he deserves. Do not cheat anyone. That is justice at its most basic level.
In Amos 5:24 the Lord said: Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream. For any human society to be regarded as godly, God wants to see justice there. And what does Micah 6:8 say? He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.Notice — justice comes first.
Place Micah 6:8 side by side with Matthew 23:23, the most famous verse where Jesus mentions tithing. He says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin.” Now, why would He call them hypocrites? These were people who paid careful attention to their tithe. For you and me it is easy — I can calculate ten percent of my monetary income accurately. But imagine the maize farmer who wants to tithe from his harvest. A conscientious tither would have to sit down, instruct his workers to measure the entire harvest, divide it into ten, and give one part to the Lord. The Pharisees were that meticulous. And yet Jesus said: you have neglected the weightier matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faith.
The two passages are saying the same thing. Walking humbly with God is faith — believing there is a God who rules over you, to whom you are accountable. Justice, mercy, faith. And in each instance, what comes first? Justice.
So when wrongdoers are the very people telling others to “go to court,” it is because they know there is no justice in the courts to which they have sent you. A corrupted judicial system is an abomination before the Lord. And when we go to God in prayer, let us not merely cry out about the sins of Tinubu, of the APC, of our politicians. Like Daniel, who interceded for his nation, let us say, “We all have sinned.” We are all culpable, though to different degrees. You may not be the corrupt judge; you may not be the one who bribed a judge; you may not be the one saying “go to court.” But there are sins attributable to lands, to nations, to a people. And here, in political matters, we have credible suspicions — and now I lawyer-speak — credible suspicions that many of our judges have been compromised.
But those who think their brother on the bench will save them need to be reminded: even where your brother is the judge and corrupts the system to rule in your favour, God sees. God sees, even when human justice fails. Psalm 37 reminds us not to fret because of evildoers, but to trust in the Lord and do good. Isaiah 33:22 tells us the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, our king — it is He who will save us. We should never lose hope. We will not do the illegal in a bid to undo the illegal. We will speak out. We will make sure, as much as possible, that we are not part of the corrupt system. And we will pray to the God of justice: Lord, let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream.
ON CHARLES SOLUDO AND THE MIRACLE-WORKING PASTORS
The second statement comes from Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, in south-east Nigeria — a man who was formerly Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking at what was clearly a church event — you can see young men dressed as altar servers and choristers in the background — the governor addressed those who put themselves forward as pastors, and especially as miracle workers. Tongue in cheek, he said, in effect: We need you in Anambra State. We will appreciate you; we will roll out the red carpet. Come — let us take you to the hospital, starting with the teaching hospital, the accident and emergency ward. There are people lying there with spinal cord injuries who have not stood up in months, in years. Come and touch them and let them run. There are people who cannot even pay their medical bills. So come — if you are doing genuine miracles, and not this fake stuff — come and be an instrument.
He named the hospital: the Amaku Teaching Hospital in Awka, Anambra State. The post that circulated framed it as Governor Soludo daring God — challenging Nigeria’s “miracle experts” and self-styled divine healers to prove themselves by healing even one patient in the emergency ward, rather than in controlled church settings.
Now, when you hear something like that, you must also hear what is not being said. A wise person can hear the things that are not being said — it is one of the marks of an emotionally intelligent and deeply discerning person. You must balance it, of course, because if you too often hear what is not being said, you can get things badly wrong. But human beings often will not say the whole thing to your face — they do not want to offend you, or appear contrarian — so they say something else and leave you, if you are wise, to draw the valid inferences. The elderly person does not owe you the entire matter spelt out; he gives you half and expects you, if you are truly wise, to supply the other half.
What Governor Soludo is plainly saying is that many of the pastors in Nigeria who are “working miracles” are not true pastors — that they operate in controlled church settings. Step out, he says; go to the hospitals where people truly need divine intervention.
How, then, do we engage with this from a Christian perspective? First, we must identify the legitimate concern. The truth is that there are charlatans in the Christian community — charlatans among all of us who claim to be on the Lord’s side — and Scripture strongly warns against false prophets, fake healers, and those who exploit the vulnerable for gain. Jesus Himself cautioned us in Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Paul echoed it — he exposed Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13, and warned against those peddling the gospel for profit in 2 Corinthians 2:17.
Many Christians share Governor Soludo’s frustration. In Nigeria, stories of staged miracles, hired testifiers, advance-fee fraud dressed up as “seed faith,” and pastors living lavishly while fleecing the poor are far too common. When I was young, I knew a woman — now late — who, until she died, would tell us how she once found herself backstage at a crusade and saw them coaching someone to pretend. You would be naïve to claim such things do not happen. So this is a reminder, if any of us need it, that we must be discerning, and that not all signs are signs from the Lord.
But we must draw a balance. There is also a real danger in blatantly ridiculing or dismissing true believers and quenching the genuine power of God. The Bible records undeniable miracles through ordinary people empowered by the Holy Spirit — the lame walking, the blind seeing, by the power of God through the apostles. Jesus commissioned His followers to heal the sick as part of proclaiming the kingdom of God. That phrase is the key.
Here is a hypothesis I put forward, as I reflected this morning: in every instance where the Lord worked miracles through the apostles, the apostles did not set out to perform miracles. They set out to proclaim the kingdom of God. And God, as proof of His presence in their ministry, sometimes chose to authenticate it through signs and wonders. Find me, if you can, a single instance where an apostle set out merely to show signs and wonders, to prove he had power to heal. No — they went forth in fulfilment of the Great Commission, to lift Jesus high and call people to repentance, and the Lord authenticated their ministry with miracles. The miracles followed the proclamation; they were never staged, never planned.
You do not control the Spirit of God. You do not announce, “I will be at the Ikeja bus stop tomorrow; bring me the blind and the sick, and I will prove I am a servant of God.” To do that is to test the Lord your God — which is precisely one of our Lord’s own responses to Satan. It is not we who tell God what to do; it is He who tells us, and who does through us what He wills. We must not get it twisted.
There is, however, one thing no Christian ever needs to ask God about: whether he should proclaim the kingdom of God. We have already been commissioned. Go into all the world and preach. Be instant in season and out of season. We may find excuses not to preach here or speak there — usually shame, usually because we are preoccupied with our own affairs — but the injunction stands. You need not ask, “Should I preach here? Should I tell people about Jesus?” You should. You may certainly ask for His grace, His help, His utterance — but not His permission to obey what He has already commanded. As for miracles: you are not the one working them. If it pleases Him, He will authenticate your ministry by granting the doing of miracles.
That is the biblical balance. Yes, charlatans exist, and they should be called out. But we must be circumspect, lest we throw the baby out with the bathwater. We will never deny God’s power to work miracles. This much, though, we can take away: the Lord authenticates the proclamation of His name with miracles — not the other way around. That is why those through whom genuine miracles are wrought are often themselves shocked, and immediately point to the Lord: I only set out to proclaim Him — look what He has done.
ON SENATOR MIKE LEE AND THE PENTAGON’S FAITH LIST
Finally, I turn to a politician from the United States: Senator Mike Lee, of Utah. For many of us who regard ourselves as conservative Christians and are aligned with conservative politics, he is a senator we respect and indeed love. Utah, as those familiar with American culture will know, is home to many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — popularly called the Mormons. They are so called because of their belief in the Book of Mormon, a sacred text named after an ancient prophet, Mormon, who they believe compiled and abridged the historical records of his people. They hold that book, alongside the Bible, as scripture.
So why are we discussing this? Over the weekend, it was widely reported in the United States that the Department of War — the department previously called the Department of Defense, renamed by Donald Trump to demonstrate his more muscular approach to foreign policy — had carried out a major change to its list of recognized religions. According to a Fox News report, the department officially removed about 180 faiths from that list, acting on a change announced by War Secretary Pete Hegseth. The US military chaplaincy had previously recognized over 200 faith codes that service members could claim; the number now sits at just 31, following a memo from the Under Secretary of Defense. The stated purpose was to streamline the collection of religious preferences in order to enhance targeted religious support from the chaplaincy.
I confess the original figure fascinated me — do we really have as many as 200 religions in the world? A chaplaincy must be organized to deliver spiritual support to every service member, so a military recognizing 200 faith codes would need clergy able to serve 200 different religions. I would dearly love to see the full list of the original 200, and even the 31 that remain. I will look out for it and share it with you in due course.
But here is the matter that has caused real anger. Senator Mike Lee is deeply dissatisfied with the change — and you may be surprised, because he is a Republican and a supporter of President Trump. He is unhappy because he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He wrote on X:
“As of two days ago, the Pentagon recognizes every Christian faith in America as Christian — except one. That’s not okay, and it needs to change now.”
In a longer statement he argued that the faith of the American people has always been one of the nation’s greatest strengths, and that the Constitution prohibits the United States government from treating people differently based on their religious beliefs — whatever their denomination, or whether they have any faith at all. It is especially important, he said, for the government to recognize the faith of the men and women in uniform who stand ready to die in the nation’s service. He found it offensive and “repugnant to any sense of decency” that the Pentagon would identify essentially every faith group professing faith in Jesus Christ as Christian, with the single exception of the Latter-day Saints. He implored the Pentagon not merely to reconsider but to undo it, ending with a flourish: “Secretary Hegseth, tear down that wall.”
Now, Senator Lee has made a number of valid points, and I am sure the Trump administration is thinking carefully about this, for many will feel strongly about it. One can understand the department’s argument — that a workable chaplaincy cannot be a mumble-jumble attending to 200 religions. But the deeper objection is this: a political entity should not be the one determining which body is Christian and which is not.
And yet the question the controversy forces upon us is a worthy one: what makes a church a Christian church? When people responded to Senator Lee online, some pointed out that, unlike every other Christian denomination on the list, Mormonism rejects the triune God. Another observed the irony that the only body left off the Christian list was the one with “Jesus Christ” actually in its name — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — while the Catholics, Baptists, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and the Seventh-day Adventists, none of whom carry “Christ” in their formal titles, all remained.
But that is precisely the point. It is not in the name. You can call yourself anything; it is what you believe and what you dothat matters. One commenter laid out the comparison point by point, and it is worth our reflection:
Authority. A Christian church derives its authority from the Bible alone. Mormonism draws from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price — adding to Scripture, which is itself deeply problematic for any church wishing to be Christian.
God. The Christian church believes God is eternal, uncreated, and one. The Mormon church teaches that God the Father was once a man, and that human beings may themselves become gods.
Jesus Christ. The Christian church holds that He is the eternal Son of God, uncreated — not a creature. The Mormon church teaches that He is a created being, a spirit brother of Lucifer, though now the Lord’s anointed.
The Trinity. The Christian church confesses one God in three persons. The Mormon church holds Father, Son, and Spirit to be three separate gods.
Salvation. The Christian church believes it is by grace alone through faith alone — Ephesians 2:8–9. The Mormon church believes salvation is by grace and works, including ordinances and temple rituals.
The afterlife. The Christian church teaches heaven or hell. The Mormon church teaches three kingdoms — the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial.
Human destiny. The Christian church teaches that believers will be glorified creatures — glorified by Christ Himself, but never made into gods. The Mormon church teaches that faithful Mormons can become gods.
The atonement. The Christian church believes Christ’s atonement is fully sufficient, once for all. The Mormon church holds it necessary but not sufficient — something must be added to it.
These are the reasons why many biblically faithful Christians do not recognize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian church.
Now — should a political entity dabble in this? That is genuinely doubtful. I do not think it wise, theologically or even politically, for Trump’s Department of War to wade into doctrinal disputes between denominations. I do not want government entities dabbling in such things. And there may well be a political price to pay: Utah is a Republican state, and many Mormons will be angry. But that is their problem; the politics is their problem. For us, this is an occasion to be properly educated — and to be reminded, once again, that it is not the name by which a church is called, but what that church believes, that matters.
I thank you most sincerely for joining us this morning on Gospel Bells Radio for On the Lord’s Side — Christian Perspectives on News and Current Events. I hope to be with you again tomorrow, by the grace of God. Whatever you do today, please remain firmly on the Lord’s side. God bless you.
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