Onaiyekan: To Fix Nigeria’s Challenges, Northern Elite Must Fix Region’s Problems
The Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has said he is waiting for the court to declare the actual winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission had on March 1 declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress winner, after polling 8,794,726 votes while Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party had 6,984,520 votes and 6,101,533 votes respectively.
The outcome of the presidential and state elections is being challenged at various tribunals.
Section 135(2) of the 1999 Constitution states that the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office implying he has to transfer power to the president-elect.
The same applies to other political offices.
Onaiyekan in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday said there should be no swearing-in when matters challenging the outcome of an election is in court.
“There are cases in court that have not been disposed of. That is why we are in an anomalous situation. We have a president-elect whose election is being challenged and the court is handling it.
“I’m still waiting for the court to tell me who won the election. It doesn’t make much sense to be swearing in people when they are still in court.
“I think we need to review our election process, so we do have a winner who will be sworn in and whom everybody would rally around,” he said.
He added that it is a pity that it is taking longer for the court to come to its decision.
“My problem is that the whole system of our election must be properly reviewed so that it would be easier for winners to emerge according to the wishes of the people.
“It is not right to have a system that is constantly contested. We should find out why is every election being contested,” he said.
The bishop explained that many politicians are not practicing democracy, they rigged elections because “they want power by all means.”
He, however, urged the incoming government of Tinubu to pay attention to the yearnings of the Nigerian youths.
“Only those Nigerians who doesn’t want to be sincere would be looking for agenda. We are still in the same situation, any government must face those issues otherwise we can’t survive in the country. Many young boys who have energy and Nigerians are checking out of the country.
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