Presidency Tackles Onaiyekan on Tinubu Administration’s Desperation Claims over 2027

The Nigerian Presidency has strongly refuted accusations by Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Abuja, that President Bola Tinubu's administration is determined to secure victory in the 2027 general election through any means necessary. Cardinal Onaiyekan had voiced concerns during an ARISE NEWS interview, suggesting the government was leveraging its power to undermine the electoral process and that the President had dismissed the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria's assessment of the nation's economy and security issues.

Responding to the cleric's remarks, Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, asserted that Cardinal Onaiyekan was representing the views of Catholics, not the broader Christian community. Bwala also addressed Onaiyekan's claims that officials around the President were presenting an overly optimistic view of the country. The Cardinal had warned that without electoral reforms, future election outcomes might not reflect the true will of Nigerians, citing fears that incumbency advantages could be used to compromise the credibility of elections.

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We’re worried about the fact that President Tinubu’s administration is bent on winning the 2027 elections by all means.

Cardinal Onaiyekan emphasized the need for urgent reform of Nigeria's electoral system to ensure credible elections that genuinely reflect voters' choices. He cautioned against the nation drifting towards a one-party state, which he believes would weaken democracy. While acknowledging a sitting president's right to seek re-election, Onaiyekan stressed that the advantage of incumbency should not be exploited to compromise the electoral process. He warned that the administration possesses significant resources that could be deployed in ways that might ultimately nullify the votes of ordinary citizens, even if an election appears free and fair on the surface.

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Unfortunately, they have a lot of means at their disposal, and they’re deploying all those means in a way that eventually, even with a free and fair election, the votes of the people may not count.