Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, has cautioned politicians against any attempt to rig the forthcoming general elections.
“With the current yearnings of the people for a better country, the election will no longer be business as usual,” Onaiyekan said yesterday, during the celebration of his 40th anniversary as Bishop, at the Holy Trinity Church, Maitama, Abuja.
“As regards to the results of the elections, politicians should desist from any form of manipulations to their favour if not voted for. All those who are planning to play games and scheme to rig in order to frustrate the desire of the decision of the people as regards the results of the elections, should desist from such. All of them, whether they are in government or not, should desist from rigging or causing violence; they should not do it, they should allow this election to run in a free and fair way”, he noted.
He assured that he has no special candidate, adding that the advice was for the politicians to understand that “the mood in which Nigeria now is is not a mood that they will quietly accept a rigged election. Onaiyekan advised Nigerians to use their voter cards to express their minds. According to him, the outcome of the election will not be about who has more campaign posters or can mobilise more crowds to stadiums.
The Archbishop advised politicians to fear God, as they would answer to their actions before Him. He prayed to God to bless all who had come and those who couldn’t but had prayed for him. In his speech, the Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese, His Grace Ignatius Kaigama, described the cardinal as a man of humility and peace.
Friends and clerics from within and outside Nigeria came out to celebrate the cardinal.
