Bishop Onaiyekan Warns Soludo, Other Governors: ‘You Have No Duty to Tell Nigerians Who To Vote For’

Bishop Onaiyekan Warns Soludo, Other Governors: ‘You Have No Duty to Tell Nigerians Who To Vote For’

According to the Catholic bishop, governors have only one vote like every other eligible voter and should not determine the choices of citizens at the polls.

Catholic Bishop, John Onaiyekan, has said governors, including Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, have no duty to tell Nigerians who to vote for during elections.

Onaiyekan stated this on Thursday in Enugu State while speaking on the state of Nigeria’s electoral process and concerns surrounding the conduct of elections in the country.

According to the Catholic bishop, governors have only one vote like every other eligible voter and should not determine the choices of citizens at the polls.

“It is not the duty of Governor Soludo or other governors to tell people who to vote for. They only have one vote,” Onaiyekan said.

He maintained that elections should be allowed to take place freely and fairly, stressing that conducting elections should not be treated as an overly complicated process.

“Elections are not rocket science; they can be conducted freely and fairly,” he said.

Onaiyekan also expressed concern about the quality of elections conducted in Nigeria so far, saying he did not consider them sufficiently serious.

“As far as I’m concerned, the elections we have had so far in Nigeria have not been serious,” he said.

His comments come amid broader concerns over the integrity and credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process, particularly regarding the ability of electoral institutions to conduct elections that meet expectations of transparency and fairness.

Onaiyekan also referred to the appointment of Joash Amupitan as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the new electoral commission chairman had promised to make a difference.

“INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, came and said he would surprise us,” he said.

The bishop further disclosed that bishops had raised concerns about the political situation in the country during a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said the religious leaders used the opportunity to warn the President about what they perceived as growing instability in the political environment and threats to the conduct of free and fair elections.

“When we bishops visited President Tinubu, we reminded him that the political space was shaking and that free and fair elections were being threatened,” Onaiyekan said.

His remarks in Enugu centred on the role of political office holders, the responsibility of electoral authorities and the need for citizens to be allowed to make independent choices during elections.

The bishop’s position also emphasised the importance of ensuring that voters, rather than political office holders, determine electoral outcomes through a process that is free and fair.

Onaiyekan’s comments come as attention remains focused on Nigeria’s electoral process and the responsibilities of political actors and electoral institutions in ensuring credible elections.

It also comes amid controversy between Soludo and Nigeria Democratic Congress Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi.

Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that Peter Obi issued a detailed rebuttal to claims by the Anambra State Government that his administration left behind $123.77 million in external debt, describing the allegation as “very wrong public accounting” and insisting he handed over a financially strong state with over $150 million in funds.

In a rebuttal made available to SaharaReporters on Friday, Obi broke his silence on the controversy that has dominated public discourse in recent weeks, saying he had been grieving the loss of his “very dear elder brother and friend, Chief Okey Ezeibe.”

The former governor, who served Anambra from 2006 to 2014, categorically denied ever approaching any financial institution to borrow money or issue bonds on behalf of the state during his eight-year tenure.

He cited a farewell ceremony held in his honour by the then Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, who declared that during his 10 years in office, Obi was the only state governor who had not approached him for a loan facility.

“On the day I left office, the government of Anambra State, which I served, was not owing any salary, gratuity, or pension to those scheduled to be paid by the state government,” Obi said. “We were not owing any contractor or supplier who had executed their job, certified, and verified — not one.”