Follow Us on Google
By Jude Okezie
The build up to the just concluded February 25, 2023 presidential election threw up a number of spectacles. One of these was the emergence of the third force as represented by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi. For the first time in a very long time, the nation’s political atmosphere became so foggy that even the most reputable of bookmakers was not less befuddled by the likely outcome of the poll.
Many of us who had hoped to get some clues as to the possible direction of the outcome of the election from the Lagos-based Christian cleric, Primate Elijah Ayodele, were shocked as his prophecy concerning the election did not openly name President Buhari’s successor among the three leading contenders. Rather his revelation only gave some insights as to what discerning Nigerians should expect at the end of the election and from each of the three top candidates.
Permit me to quote from the last Christmas edition of The Sun newspaper publication where Primate Ayodele foretold that, “In politics, Nigeria is pregnant. In 2023, the unexpected is going to happen. I do not have any favourite candidate among those who are contesting. But God revealed to me that if Atiku wins the presidency, Nigeria’s economy will improve and if the APC candidate, Tinubu, gets the ticket, Nigeria will be a little better. If the Labour Party wins the presidency, it is going to be a government for the poor where the rich will be complaining. PDP government will be for the poor and the rich, the elite under APC government, but the grassroots will enjoy it including the uneducated.”
If this revelation gave no clear indication about the outcome of the election, another revelation by this popular Lagos-based pastor where he warned the candidates of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party, Peter Obi against the antics and the desperation of the ruling APC and its candidate, Bola Tinubu, should have been a wakeup call to both the parties as well as to every discerning Nigerian.
Primate Ayodele also foretold that the failure by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deploy the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) would swing the outcome of the election in favour of APC and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “Above all, INEC must use BVAS for the election, otherwise, Nigerians will be disappointed by the outcome of the election and they will suffer three times what they are suffering under this present government. With BVAS, APC is out of the race because it will be difficult for any party to rig itself into power. With BVAS, election rigging will be minimal as BVAS will checkmate rigging. So, says the Lord,” the renowned pastor had warned.
From the forgoing, it is crystal clear that the prophecy by Primate Ayodele concerning the 2023 presidential election gave sufficient evidence about how the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu could be declared winner of the election. And this was exactly what played out at the end of the February 25 presidential poll, where Mahmood Yakubu’s INEC, like the treacherous Judas Iscariot whose ignominious role paved the way for the fulfillment of the prophecy about the crucifixion of the Messiah, turned out to be the villain of the controversial election.
Since INEC announced the results of the presidential poll and declared the former governor of Lagos State as the president-elect, I have read a number of articles where writers who I considered to be sympathetic to the ruling APC candidate accused Primate Ayodele of not giving their candidate any chance of winning the election. My conclusion about those articles is that it is either the majority of the sponsors of these write-ups did not read Primate Ayodele’s prophecy about the election or they are just being economical with the truth about the whole issue. It could also be that they are just aiming for the cleric’s jugular for having the temerity to expose the ruling party’s crooked path to retaining power after its woeful performance under the current administration in the last eight years.
At no time did Primate Ayodele predicted that Tinubu would lose the 2023 election. He only predicted how the former governor of Lagos State could snatch victory at the poll, which is the failure or refusal of the electoral umpire to deploy the BVAS for the election. And that was exactly how it turned out. INEC compromised; Tinubu won controversially, paving the way for the fulfillment of Primate Ayodele’s prophecy about the former governor of Lagos State.
• Dr Okezie writes from Awka, Anambra State
