Olusegun ARIYO
Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has expressed concern that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is bent on winning elections by all means, potentially undermining the credibility of the electoral process.
Cardinal Onaiyekan made this assertion during a live interview programme on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on Friday.
He also raised doubts about the independence of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC, despite Tinubu’s claim that the electoral body was neutral.
“We’re worried about the fact that President Tinubu’s administration is bent on winning the 2027 elections by all means.
“Unfortunately, they have a lot of means at their disposal, and they’re deploying all those means in a way that eventually, even with a free and fair election, the votes of the people may not count.
“But we gave a warning that if we do not rearrange our election system to make sure that elections are really free, fair, and credible, it can lead to difficulties.
“We also warned that the country doesn’t gain anything by a one-party state in a so-called democracy. Of course, we are not expecting Mr President to help the opposition to defeat him.
“But the point we are raising is that even though the president has all the powers of incumbency, he is in the election. He is a candidate like any other person,” Onaiyekan said.
