Religious leaders ask Presidential candidates to respect peace accord

Religious leaders, including the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, have called on all the candidates in the 2015 presidential election to respect, both in letter and spirit, the Abuja Accord which they have signed and play according to the rules.

The two influential religious leaders who urged politicians to allow Nigerians decide in free and fair elections who will rule them, called for violence-free elections and appealed to Nigerians to refrain from any act that may lead to the destruction of life and property in the country.

Addressing a joint press conference yesterday in Abuja, the Sultan, who warned politicians not to drag religion into politics, emphasized that it is not possible for anyone to Islamize Nigeria.

He said: “It is not possible to have a Nigerian nation that is 100 percent Muslims or 100 percent Christians, nobody can Islamize Nigeria. There is no way you can bring religion into politics, the two major parties in Nigeria have millions of Christians and Muslims as their members.

 If the presidential candidate of APC goes to Cardinal Onaiyekan or the CAN president and ask them to pray for him, won’t they do so? They must, so when you have Muslim leaders who come to me or any other Imam to pray for them, we are duty bound to pray for them. As religious leaders, our duty is to educate our followers on what is expected of them during elections and not to tell them who to vote for. There are good Christian leaders just as there are good Muslim leaders. What we need is to pray for God almighty to guide us to choose a leader who will lead this country well, who will ensure that justice is done”.

Also speaking, Cardinal Onaiyekan called on the Federal Government, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to carry out their duties well without any bias for or against anyone and ensure free, fair, peaceful and credible elections

He said: “For INEC and Security agencies, yours is a sacred duty that is crucial for the well-being of our nation for which you will be accountable to God for blessings or otherwise.”