The Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has warned those with the intent to rig the February 25 and March 11 general elections to bury the thought.
Onaiyekan told those he described as “professional riggers” across all political parties as well as within and outside of government that this year’s polls “will not be business as usual”.
The top cleric spoke at the 20th Daily Trust Dialogue under the theme: Interrogating the 2023 Presidential Agenda, on Thursday, in Abuja.
He said: “I am sure in my mind that the major issue in the minds right now of most Nigerians, at home and abroad, is the February-March 2023 general election. The key issue is whether this election will bring about meaningful change for the better for our nation.
“A relatively small group of professional political elite has been running the affairs of the nation, mainly freely between two major political parties, with no specific ideological identity but mainly structures for capturing power for rather selfish, personal and group interests.
“If things are to change for the better, it cannot be business as usual. There is need for a drastic change of orientation, especially in the concept and practice of political power characterised by politics as sincere and honest service of common good, and not as ways and means of capturing power for self-interest!
“Such a change will come from two by no means mutually exclusive directions: a total change of heart by our professional political elite and a new group of concerned elite citizens ready to drive the new agenda of politics for service and ready also to pay the cost of involvement.
“Will the forthcoming elections bring this about? That is the question to interrogate! Can we hope that the 2023 elections will not be ‘business as usual’, an attitude that has not been moving the nation anyway forward?
“Truly, free, fair and credible elections: that is the only way from which we will emerge at all levels of government, men and women who are ready to serve the nation with dedication, sincerity, honesty and integrity…
“Let our usual ‘professional riggers’ across all parties, both within and outside of government, be put on strong notice that this time round, it will not be business as usual. This is not a threat. Rather, it is a sincere warning. Let those who have ears listen!”
Also, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), through its National Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that this year’s general election is conducted as scheduled.
The NEF spokesman also urged Nigerians to reject any plan to produce a successor to President Buhari through an “unconstitutional means”.
He warned that such a plan must not be allowed to see the light of day.
Baba-Ahmed, who was reacting to a remark by a former Minister of State for Defence, Mallam Lawal Batagarawa, that the 2023 general election may not hold, said: “We will resist any attempt to jettison the constitutional means of changing the government.
“In case anybody is contemplating another means of changing the current government different from the current democratic arrangement that is ongoing in the country now; anybody thinking of something else, should stop.”
Addressing journalists later, Baba-Ahmed added: “There must be credible elections, the kind of elections where the winners are elected. Anybody who loses an election has a choice. They will either go to court and challenge it or accept the outcome of the polls.
“We will not tolerate anybody who causes problems because he does not accept that he had contested and lost a contest in a democratic setting.”
In her presentation, the United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said: “I will start by expressing clearly my government’s view on the important elections that are our focus today.
“The United States supports transparent and credible elections that reflect the will of the people in a process that is conducted peacefully.
“The 2023 elections are a pivotal opportunity for Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and its largest economy, to solidify its place as a democratic leader in Africa.
“We favour no candidate; we favour that open, transparent, and peaceful process.”