The Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan has urged the Federal Government and electoral stakeholders to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process. Onaiyekan, who warned that growing voter apathy could threaten the credibility of the 2027 general elections, said this at the weekend in Abuja.
The Catholic cleric, who spoke on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, said the declining voter turnout in recent elections was a reflection of widespread distrust in the electoral system. He said the trend must be urgently reversed.
He said democracy could thrive only where elections were free, fair and credible.
“True democracy is based on free and fair elections. There can be no good governance without free, fair and credible elections in a democracy. Elections have consequences. Bad elections bred bad governance and bad governance bred misery among the people.”
Onaiyekan warned that many Nigerians may not want to participate in the 2027 elections if they believe the outcome of the election has already been decided. My fear is that if it is very obvious to Nigerians that, no matter what happens, the APC will win, then most people will not even bother to go to the election. And even if the government, the real power, wins it will be no real victory. There is no way that good government can be delivered.”
“There has never been a truly free and fair election in Nigeria. Both the government and electoral bodies should work towards restoring trust in the electoral process,” said the Cardinal.
“I think it is in our interest and in the interest of the government which has all the powers to make sure that the trust of the people in the electoral process is restored so that we can get at least 50 per cent of Nigerians to vote. “If people see that the electoral field is fair and equal for everybody, then people will know their votes will count,” he said.
He observed that democratic governments derive their legitimacy from the people unlike military governments and thus, have to be accountable to the people through credible elections.
We didn’t talk about elections when we were under military rule and the military boys ruling us didn’t say they were ruling in our name. Now we are under democracy, and the rulers say they are governing in our name. “We cannot be silent when people say they are working in our name and they are not,” he said.
The former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja also reiterated his call for broad electoral reforms, arguing the conduct of security agencies is important to credible elections, not just the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Even if INEC is neutral, the outcome of the election is also dependent on the activities and performance of the security agents who claim to be securing the election but often times intimidate people.
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He also called for a review of the process of appointing the leadership of the INEC, saying the current arrangement raises questions on the independence of the commission.
“We know that the government in office is the one that appoints INEC. “We have to find a way around that because if the government in power appoints INEC, then it is difficult to have a fair contest unless you have a very strong INEC chairman who decides to stand up against all pressures,” he added.
“We have seen in the past that even with peace accords, there has been violence during elections,” said Onaiyekan, who recently led the National Peace Committee in facilitating the signing of a peace accord by political parties on the August 15 Osun State governorship election, but stressed that they were still necessary.
He urged political actors to act peacefully and allow voters to exercise their democratic rights without fear or intimidation.
“We are just praying and hoping that peace will prevail and that the ordinary people will be allowed to cast their votes while politicians hold back and do not destroy the whole process because of their own political ambitions,” he said.