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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has raised concerns over the possibility of holding the 2023 general elections, pointing at different ill-happenings, particularly the rising insecurity across the country.
The Christian body, specifically, said it feared the 2023 general elections might not hold as planned if the spate of insecurity and killings across the country were not urgently tackled by the government.
It also registered its concerns about the possibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) being apolitical in the conduct of polls.
CAN President, Dr. Samson Ayokunle Olasupo, registered these concerns at an interactive session with European Union (EU) delegation who were on a mission to assess Nigeria’s preparation for the 2023 election.
His media aide, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, in a statement, yesterday, quoted the CAN president as informing the EU delegation that the menace of security challenges occasioned by the criminal activities of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers remained the biggest threat to the 2023 general elections.
He said the level of insecurity might not allow the general election to be credible, free and fair, if voters are not allowed to go out to exercise their inalienable rights because of the fear of being harmed or kidnapped or killed.
The CAN leader said efforts by government to nip the ugly situation in the bud were far from being enough.
“If the trend continues, many voters may choose not to participate in electoral process and the outcome of the election might not be credible. We have been struggling with this situation now for the past 13 years, yet, we are still where we are.”
He called on the Federal Government and security agencies to wake up to the security challenges in the country where terrorists, bandits and kidnappers were operating with impunity, with nowhere being safe and secured. He also called on INEC to be apolitical and asked members of the commission who are card carrying members of the ruling party to step down or be flushed out in order to avoid compromising election results.
He challenged INEC to borrow a leaf from its counterpart in Gambia where their recently conducted elections were far better than Nigeria’s elections. “The recent Gambia elections were more credible, free and fair. It was also free from security harassment and there was a level playing field for all the parties involved. We are supposed to be doing better because we have more resources and more capacity than Gambian.”
Olasupo said CAN had no candidate for the office of the president, but reiterated the position of the association on the need to have a Christian President as President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor who is a Muslim and would have spent eight years in office by the time he is finishing his term.
“Nigeria is practising democracy, but because of our peculiarities which include multi-cultural, tribal, and religious nature, ours should be a ‘home grown democracy’ where every divide should be given a sense of belonging. Even if the constitution is silent on the six geopolitical zones rotational representation, the political parties should be wise enough to make use of it in sharing the leadership positions. We have warned all political parties against fielding either Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian presidential candidates. Since President Muhammadu Buhari is a Muslim from the North, in the interest of equity, fairness, social justice and cohesion, the next president should be a Christian from the South.”
After the interactions, leader of the delegation, Ms Maria Arena thanked the leadership of CAN for honouring their invitation and promised to carry the association along in their assignments.
