The Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has warned that voters would not turn out in the 2027 general elections if Nigerians conclude that victory is already guaranteed for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.  

Speaking on Monday during a program on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, monitored by DAILY POST in Abeokuta, the Cardinal said perception matters as much as the vote itself.

He cautioned that belief in a predetermined outcome would discourage citizens and damage the legitimacy of any government that emerges.  

“My fear is that if it becomes very clear to Nigerians that no matter what happens, the APC will win, then most people won’t even bother to go to the election,” Onaiyekan said. “And even if the government, the real power wins, it will not bring a real victory actually. And it is not going to be possible to deliver good government.”  

The cleric stressed that restoring public confidence in the electoral process is critical to improving governance, stressing that democracy can only thrive where elections are genuinely free, fair and credible, and anything less produces poor leadership.  

“Genuine democracy is built on free and fair elections,” he said. “Any democracy that cannot do free, fair, and credible election cannot come up with good governance. Elections have consequences… Bad elections lead to bad governance and bad governance leads to misery among the people.”  

Onaiyekan lamented that Nigeria is yet to conduct a truly free and fair election, linking low voter turnout to widespread disillusionment and urged those in power to act urgently to restore trust ahead of 2027.

“It is in our interest and the government who has all the powers, to please make sure that the trust of the people in the electoral process is restored, so that we can get at least 50% of Nigerians voting,” he said.  

The Cardinal contrasted democratic rule with the military era, noting that elected leaders claim to govern in the people’s name and must therefore be held accountable.

“When we were under military regime, we didn’t talk about elections… Now we are with democracy, and the rulers say that they are ruling in our name. We can’t keep quiet when people claiming to be working in our name are not.”  

On the role of institutions, Onaiyekan said INEC’s neutrality alone is not enough, pointing to the conduct of security agencies during polls. According to him, intimidation undermines credibility of elections.

“Even if INEC is neutral, as you know, the election outcome is also affected by the activities and the performance of the security agents who claim to be securing the election, but who often end up intimidating people with sirens all over the place, which doesn’t happen in decent democracies.

“We are also talking about why it’s always difficult for INEC to even perform well, with all good intentions. The rules that guide these activities, there is a lot of room for improvement. We have been talking about reforming the electoral rules.”

He called for electoral reforms, particularly in how INEC leadership is appointed, maintaining that the current process for appointing the electoral body’s leadership raises concerns about impartiality and should be reviewed to reinforce public confidence in the electoral system.

“We know that the government in power appoints the INEC. We have to figure a way out of that because if the government in power appoints the INEC, then It’s difficult to have a fair game. Unless you have a very strong chairman of INEC who decides to stand up against all pressures,” he added.

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has urged President Bola Tinubu to campaign for re-election on the strength of his administration’s performance rather than political rhetoric, saying Nigerians would ultimately judge the government by its record in office.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, the Ovation Magazine publisher said the outcome of the 2027 presidential election would depend largely on how Nigerians assess the performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to him, President Tinubu does not face personal hostility from Nigerians but must convince voters that his administration has delivered on its promises.

“The 2027 election will not be difficult for Tinubu if he can show the records of his performance. Nobody hates him personally. Nobody wants to pick him out because they just don’t like him. It is about performance. Present your scorecards. So the people running around spreading hellfire, calm down and spread that energy on showing the performance of APC,” Momodu said.

The ADC chieftain also criticised the APC for repeatedly blaming previous administrations for the country’s economic and governance challenges, despite having been in power since 2015.

He argued that if the current administration inherited a struggling economy, it should be judged by the measures it has taken to improve the situation.

“What we see is APC abusing itself and its predecessors, saying they inherited a useless government and economy. I have never seen a place where a party destroys its own predecessors like APC,” he said.

Questioning the government’s record, Momodu added:

“Now, let’s assume President Tinubu inherited a bad government. What has he done to change the direction of his predecessor and change the lives of the people?”

Momodu also weighed in on the recent exchange between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Reacting to Obasanjo’s claim that choosing Atiku as his vice president was his greatest political mistake, Momodu alleged that the former president remained opposed to Atiku’s presidential ambition.

The comments come months ahead of the 2027 general election, in which President Tinubu is expected to seek a second term.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, are among the leading opposition figures preparing for the contest.

Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have vowed to protect what they described as the party’s legal identity.

They insisted they would not allow any group to undermine its recognised leadership.

The chairmen made the declaration on Monday in Abuja while addressing journalists over the ongoing leadership dispute within the party.

Speaking on behalf of the forum, its chairman, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, said the group was acting out of a sense of responsibility to preserve the integrity of the PDP and uphold the rule of law. The forum’s Secretary, Hon. Babandi Ibrahim Gumel, also endorsed the position.

The chairmen said Nigeria is governed by the rule of law and should not allow expelled members of the party to replace valid court decisions with public statements or media campaigns.

“There is only one recognised leadership of the PDP, led by the National Working Committee under our National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulraham Mohammed, and our National Secretary, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu,” the forum said.

“There is also only one PDP recognised by INEC and by the courts. We reject this identity theft and demand that the relevant authorities compel them to desist.”

The chairmen called on security agencies to investigate what they described as the alleged forgery and distortion of court judgments by a rival group led by Tanimu Turaki.

According to them, the matter has gone beyond an internal party disagreement and now raises concerns about respect for the rule of law and public order.

They also urged the party’s National Working Committee to commence contempt proceedings and take other legal action against those they accused of impersonation, forgery and disobedience of court orders.

The forum appealed to former President Goodluck Jonathan to publicly distance himself from what it described as the unauthorised use of his name by the rival group.

“We call on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to order a security review of the building in Area 10, Garki, Abuja, which we believe is being used for activities capable of disrupting public peace. We will also make certified true copies of the relevant court judgments available to journalists to correct the misleading interpretations of those rulings,” the chairmen said.

They also commended the National Working Committee for conducting party primaries, overseeing the sale of nomination forms and completing the submission of candidates’ details to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The forum urged PDP members across the country to remain calm and united despite the leadership crisis.