Election: Archbishop cautions Nigerians against voting on basis of religious sentiment

The Archbishop of the African Church Province of Abuja, Peter Ogunmuyiwa, on Wednesday cautioned Nigerians against voting for candidate on the basis of religion in the 2023 general elections.

Ogunmuyiwa made the call at the Interfaith Peace Summit: Tips on 2023 General Elections, with the theme,” Prosecuting Peaceful Elections: Role of Faith Communities,” organised by the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, in conjunction with the NTA Abrahamic Mission, in Abuja.

Ogunmuyiwa said: ” Religion of a candidate should not be the basis for our choices at the forthcoming elections but their antecedents and commitment to the development of the country.

” The effects of bad governance are felt on all Nigerians, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity, poverty has no religion and friend as when we have bad leadership all of us Christians, Muslims and others eill suffer.

” Democracy thrives on diversity and our diversity and our religions should be something that we harness together.

“We therefore need to be wise this time around and make wise choices in the forthcoming elections.

” We need peace in Nigeria. We can’t afford religious crises or civil war any longer which ordinarily is always instigated by the sentiment of religion or tribes.”

On the Muslim-Muslim ticket, the archbishop said any religion’s person could be a President of Nigeria.

” I am not an advocate of Muslim-Muslim ticket but if para venture the ticket wins, it will mean that christians also voted for the ticket. So, it will make a lot for the stability of this country.

” It will means a lot to the ideology of Abrahimic mission and if it comes to be and there is peace in Nigeria, then that will suggest that a Christian supports the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“The forthcoming elections are very interesting and eventually the will of God will prevail.

“But the signal will be that God is interested in Nigeria which ever way the election goes.

Earlier, the Chief Iman of Al-Habibiyyah Mosque, Faud Adeyemi,said the NTA Abrahamic Mission programme was widely accepted and had a lot of impact in the lives of Nigerians.

” Then we decided to move forward to see what can we do to get it more impactful now that elections are here.

“We want to use that expose to be able to get to the people so that we do the right thing for ourselves during the forthcoming election.

” We all know that we are mostly religious people in this country and that is why we brought Muslim and and the Christian leaders to talk from their religious perspective what should we be doing now that election is by the corner.

” And as people who follow

God injuctions what are the things we should do to ensure peaceful elections in the country? Adeyemi asked.

Also, the Iman of the Abuja National Mosque, Dr Kabir Mohammed, urged Muslims and Christians to embrace themselves and continue to live in peace and harmony before, during and after the elections.

Similarly, the DirectorGeneral, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr Garba Abari, said the agency was doing its best to instill positive attitude in the electorate to ensure peaceful polls.

Represented by Mrs Ebele Okonkwo, Assistant Director, Political and Civic Ethics and Values Department, Abari said the agency was also working to ensure that the election was allinclusive.

This is by engaging women and the People with Disabilities to ensure that they are represented in the electoral process.(NAN)

CSOs urge INEC to build Nigerians confidence around BVAS

By Abubakar Yunusa

Less than 22 days to the 2023 general election, The resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has called on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to build Nigerians' Confidence around Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to ensure there is would free, fair election.

CHRICED also called on INEC to engage in more confidence building concerning the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device, which came under the spotlight at the recent Governorship Election Petition Tribunal judgment for the Osun State gubernatorial election conducted in 2022.

Briefing newsmen on the State of the nation in Abuja on Thursday, CHRICED Executive Director, Comrade, Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi said INEC should make sure the forthcoming election is delivered successfully.

He also accused the present government saying that the Buhari administration has failed woefully, in all ramifications and there's nothing good to say about this government.

Speaking further, he said "2023 is another opportunity for Nigerians to reset the country and breath new life into it by electing the right leaders.

Zikrullahi explained that the election is taking place at a time when the country is facing numerous challenges, from insecurity to turmoil in the economy and the lack of job

He said, "From insecurity to the turmoil in the economy and to the lack of jobs for those willing and ready to work, there are more than enough reasons for all registered Nigerians to come out in good numbers on Election Day to exercise their democratic rights.

While commending the INEC for its a recent extension to the timeframe for the collection of PVCs, he said "There been very disturbing video evidence of cases wherein Nigerians wanting to collect their PVCs were asked to part with specific sums of money to be able to get their PVCs

"CHRICED unequivocally condemns these manifestations of petty corruption in the PVC collection process as documented in Enugu and Nasarawa States.

"While these may be isolated cases of acts of corruption by a few unscrupulous officials, it is important for the Commission to speedily cause an investigation of these infractions and ensure law enforcement brings the perpetrators to justice," he said.