The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has lamented insecurity in the country, saying it is the biggest threat to the 2023 general elections.
CAN President, Revd. Samson Ayokunle, said this on Tuesday night when a delegation of the European Union led by the EU Chief Election Observer, Ms. Maria Arena, met with the leadership of the apex Christian body in Abuja.
The EU team sought to know CAN’s position concerning the preparation of all the stakeholders – the Independent National Electoral Commission, the security agencies, and the political parties – towards the forthcoming elections next year.
According to Ayokunle, CAN was disturbed by the negative development whereby the security of lives and properties could no longer be guaranteed across the country.
He explained that the security situation in the country might not allow the general election to be credible, free, and fair, if the voters were not allowed to go out to exercise their inalienable rights, because of fear of being harmed or kidnapped, or killed.
“We call on the Federal Government and the security agencies to wake up to the security challenges in the country where the terrorists, bandits and kidnappers are operating with impunity and nowhere is safe and secure again. If the trend continues, many voters may not participate and the outcome of the election may not be credible. We have been struggling with this situation now for the past thirteen years, yet, we are still where we are,” the CAN President said.
While calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain apolitical in its mandate, Ayokunle asked electoral commissioners who are card-carrying members of the ruling party to step down in order to avoid malpractices in the election.
Meanwhile, the CAN President disclosed that the religious body had no preferred aspirant for the office of the President. However, he stressed the need to have a Christian leader to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari who is a Muslim.
According to him, “Although Nigeria is practising democracy because of our peculiarities which include multicultural, multi-tribal, and multi-religious nature, ours should be a ‘homegrown 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.”
Ayokunle also advised all churches in Nigeria to make the first week of March a week of “soul-winning”.
Earlier, the EU Chief Election Observer, Ms. Maria Arena, stated that the delegation was on a mission to the country from 1-5 March 2022 in preparation for their observation of next year’s general election in Nigeria.
She thanked the leadership of CAN for honouring their invitation and promised to be carrying the umbrella Christian organization along in their assignments.
