The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has said the outcome of the 2023 presidential election is in God’s hands.
Prominent religious leaders on Wednesday advised Nigerians to get their Permanent Voter Cards ready to vote according to their conscience in the February 25 presidential election.
Among them was the Sultan of Sokoto and the President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop Daniel Okoh.
The Sultan represented by the Director of Administration, NSCIA, Zubairu Usman, urged the people not to be swayed by primordial sentiment, but according to their consciences as they prepare to participate in the forthcoming elections.
He said, “We are first Nigerians before anything else. So, Nigerians should go and get their PVCs, conducts themselves peacefully, go to the polling units on election days and vote with wisdom and according to their conscience.
“They should not be swayed by any other primordial sentiment, but according to their conscience.”
According to him, the outcome of the elections was in God’s hand, stressing that it was the creator who would decide the fate of all the candidates.
Abubakar said, “God gives power to whom he pleases and deprives power from whosoever he pleases. He gives honor and glory to whom he pleases and debases whosoever he pleases.”
Okoh, represented by Most Rev. Benebo Fubara-Manuel, also said that despite the zero tolerance stance of CAN on the issue of same-faith presidential ticket, Nigerians should listen to God and vote according to their consciences.
He, however, clarified that CAN took its position against same-faith ticket long before the political parties fielded their candidates because a Muslim-Christian ticket or vice versa would de-escalate the mounting inter-religious tension in the land.
Okoh said, “Individuals will vote according to their consciences. Vote the person that God has placed in your heart as the leader of the country even when CAN says no to same-faith ticket.
“CAN hasn’t said no to our consciences. It is only saying to us; listen to your God. Look at the country and its economy, and find the best leader.
“Why did CAN say no to same-faith ticket? It is in order to ease the tension in order to make sure that political parties play in such a way that we, as a nation, can be able to manage our diverse religious and ethnic consciousness.”
Earlier, the co-chairmen of IDPF, Bishop Sunday Onuoha and Alhaji Kunle Sanni, urged political actors to abort any plot to manipulate the electoral process and derail the credibility of the election.
While Sanni urged the youths not to allow themselves to be used as pawns for creating electoral violence, Onuoha said that the country was already faced with lots of issues threatening peaceful coexistence.
“We call on all those who through their actions and/or inactions cause trouble during elections, to please desist from it, so as not to worsen an already combustible situation.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has already pronounced that people are free to vote candidates of their choice. Let us respect that,” they said.
Also, Agustin Nunez-Vicandi of the KAICIID Dialogue Centre, urged the forum to keep pushing for free and fair elections while working to increase confidence in Nigeria’s political system.
He also said religious leaders should work to alleviate and heal the fragmentation in the country and build peaceful coexistence among all citizens.
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