– Insurgency in the Northeast Was Aimed At the Church – Rev. Joel Billi, EYN President
By Billy Graham Abel Yola
The President of the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, EYN, also known as Church of the Brethren has criticised INEC over its shoddy handling of the 2023 elections saying the electoral umpire has failed Nigerians especially with its inability to upload results in real time at the polling units as promised to Nigerians.
The clergyman queried that Nigerians had high hopes in the electoral body and the assurances it has made to Nigerians that their votes will count and that it would deliver a free, fair and credible elections that reflects the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians but failed to deliver on its promises.
Joel Billy made the remarks during an international press conference marking the centenary celebrations of the church at Kwarhi, Hong Local government, Adamawa state.
Billi said, “We are in the season of elections in Nigeria. Sadly our election is characterized by thuggery, violence and manipulations of election processes and results by INEC staff, politicians and some agents in government. This is not only sad but an insult to the collective sensibilities of Nigerians.
“The outcry that greeted the just concluded presidential election attests to the fact the process was manipulated in several places.
“When the matter of attempts by INEC to manipulate election result by failing to transmit the result in real time from polling unit to INEC Result view portal was raised in the fourth quarter of 2022, the INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu debunked the claim and reiterated that the BVAS was introduced to ensure transparency because they were working for Nigerians.
“Sadly, Mahmood Yakubu and his team failed Nigerians by that singular act of deliberately violating the very provision that will guarantee the integrity of the election results.
“I want to call on Prof. Yakubu and his team to ensure that they do the right thing in the forthcoming Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections. I also call on our members not to give up on INEC but rather come out en masse on Saturday 18th March, 2023 and vote for candidates of their choice. Make sure you cast your vote and that your vote counts.”
Billi while addressing the press criticised the economic policies of the incumbent Buhari led government stating that the administration has unleashed untold hardship on Nigerians and Buhari and he should rejig his economic management team to save the country from needless struggles.
Billi said, “Nigeria has never been faced with this kind of economic crisis being experienced due to the currency redesign, cash withdrawal limits, incessant power outages from the national grid, scarcity of petroleum products and rising inflation. This has brought untold economic hardship on the citizens as a result high cost of living and none availability of cash.
“A lot of small scale businesses have packed off while the political elites are busy stealing from our common wealth. I call on the leadership of the county as a matter of urgency to rejig the economic management team so that the economic woes of the nation will be abated.
“I also call upon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to truly fight corruption in its entirety fairly and squarely and not pay lip service to it or witch-hunt political opponents.
“Today under President Buhari’s watch, a litre of petrol goes for N350 and diesel goes for N 950. Needles to talk about the cost of aviation fuel and other essential commodities whose prices have skyrocketed; yet the government has claimed to be paying subsidies running into trillions of naira. This is sad and a clear failure on the part of the ruling elites to provide dividends of democracy it promised Nigerian after 8 years in office.”
Speaking on the naira redesign policy and the state of the nation’s economy he said, “The naira has been experiencing a free fall to the dollar. As at today one dollar ($1) goes for seven hundred and fifty naira (N 750).
“All these economic challenges are affecting the smooth operation of the church since members are affected directly.”
The clergyman said the church over the century has made in-roads in establishing churches in 29 states of the federation and opening several mission within and outside the country.
Billi explained that the EYN was a little seed sowed in tears by the pioneer missionaries Dr. Harold Stover Kulp and Dr. Albert Helser, which have been watered and nurtured by God and as a result, it has yielded a bountiful harvest of souls for the kingdom of God in Nigeria for a century.
The president of the church called on all members of the church to remain committed to the mission of the church and renew commitment to keep taking the gospel to the ends of the world.