• Tasks INEC, Judiciary On Redeeming Image
Bishop of Nike Diocese (Anglican Communion), Enugu State, Rt. Rev. Christian Onyia, has berated traditional rulers and religious leaders over their alleged ignoble role in the just concluded general elections.
This was as he also noted that the polls, to a large extent, did not meet the credibility criteria. The Bishop said yesterday while delivering his Bishop’s Charge at the 2nd Session of the 6th Synod of the Diocese at the Church of the Beatitudes, Trans Ekulu, Enugu.
According to him, “as expected, in every contest/competition, winners have emerged. Nonetheless, it is more honorable to accept defeat in a competition if the process and the outcome are seen to be fair, open and credible.”
Onyia said observed that most of the provisions of the new electoral law on the conduct of elections were not met. “Apparently, there is a lack of political will to implement the law. The elections witnessed, among others, late arrival of voting materials to the polling units, poor conduct of INEC officials, malfunctioning of BVAS devices, change of location of polling units, and non-compliance with electoral guidelines on the upload of election results to IRev.
“Unfortunately, videos available online showed that these things happened while the responsible security agents present at the venue did nothing to address the issues and restore order,” he said
The Cleric further lamented that the 2023 elections witnessed the lowest voter participation since the return of Nigeria to democracy in 1999; noting that only 26.7 per cent of registered voters turned out for the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“The low voter participation does not only indicate the loss of confidence by Nigerians in the institutions charged with the responsibility to conduct a credible election but a failure of democracy to deliver development in Nigeria.
“State institutions and politics have continued to exclude instead of include, with the sole intent to perpetuate State capture by the political elites,” he said.
The Cleric also decried the appalling direct involvement and partisanship of traditional rulers and religious leaders in the just-concluded elections, adding that, “it is despicable and condemnable.”
He said: “Some Church leaders turned the pulpit into a place to campaign for political parties and their preferred candidates. In some other places, traditional rulers who are known supporters of the ruling party, imposed midnight curfews to perform ‘Oro’ rights, slaughtered animals and strategically placed the sacrifices at voting centres to scare voters,” he revealed.
Onyia noted that clearly, most politicians, by their actions, believe that the judiciary could not dispense justice anymore; adding that the new slogan of ‘go to court’ by someone who is aware that electoral fraud had been committed raises integrity risk on the judiciary.
The bishop said, “I encourage the judiciary to rise up to the occasion and redeem its battered image by dispensing justice without fear or favour.
“This will not only boost the confidence of voters/Nigerians in our judiciary and electoral process, but will also increase their turn out rate in next elections,” he said
