Imposition of candidates by political parties worrisome ― Anglican Bishop

Bishop, Diocese of Kaduna, Anglican communion, Timothy Yahaya has expressed worry over what he described as the imposition of candidates as well as money politics currently being used by political parties ahead of the 2023 elections.

According to him, the current trend if not controlled might mar the general elections in 2023. Thus, he quickly calls on the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do the needful and ensure the election is free and fair.

In a message to the nation during the 2nd session of the 22nd Synod of the Anglican Communion which was held on Sunday at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Bishop Yahaya also appealed to other key actors in the electoral process not to impose candidates on the people.

“Today we see naira and dollars rain because the election is at the corner. Is it democracy for sale? The money of the people pulled from the people, is used to buy positions in our country.

‘You mean the entire intelligent agencies in this country cannot trace where these monies are gotten from, and people arrested and brought to book?. Are we just going to fold our arms and let it go this way?.

“There is only one seat in Aso Rock, there are no ten seats in Aso Rock. We call on INEC to follow every word of the electoral Act, to be seen to be independent, to be free and fair to conduct a credible election where everybody will be happy.

“I call on the political parties to stop imposing candidates. In a democracy, it is the majority that has the votes. But from our own position, some cabals decide who becomes our leaders.

”They collect naira, they collect dollars to appoint people who cannot lead anywhere. Nigerians are getting wiser and I call on Nigerians to get their PVC but don’t vote religion, don’t vote tribe. Don’t vote for mediocrity. Whoever you are going to vote for, ask yourself what has he done for Nigeria. And find out his antecedents before voting for him.

“If anybody says he is going to give you clothes, look at the one he is wearing. It is our prayer that by 2023 our tales of woes as a nation will be over.

“We should not lose hope because God is still on the throne. Because we are human, we tend to think that everything has given way. We encourage Nigerians that God is still on the throne.

“Our message to our leaders is that; number one, they should fear God. Why are we saying that they should fear God; we are saying they should fear God because there is a day of judgement. Everything we do, there is a day of judgement, a day of reckoning.

“Another message to the nation is that if Dangote can build refineries of 160,000 barrels capacity, and our own refineries, have 450,000 barrels per day, I think we should quit as a nation.

‘The oil industry anywhere in the world is independent. We cannot run the oil industry like political offices. Politicians don’t interfere in the oil industry. But since we decided to remove the account of the refineries from the commercial bank to the central bank, our refineries today are moribund. A bureaucratic system should not be seen in the oil sector.

“And again the government is saying loudly we don’t have money. Some of us get confused when billions of naira and billions of dollars are carted away. People who are supposed to safeguard this country are failing the country.

“For God’s sake, in Nigeria, we are religious people, but we are Godless people. If we have God in our hearts, we will not be doing what we are doing. We read the holy books, and we go to places of worship, but we don’t have a conscience.

“Our religious leaders should be careful. They contribute to the problems of this country. I call on religious leaders to fear God and let them be agents of peace. Let them be agents of change. If they see wrong, let them call it wrong no matter whose ox is gored”.