Catholic Archbishop Cautions Against Voting For Candidate Without Capacities
The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama has cautioned Nigerians against allowing sentiments to determine their choice of candidates which could lead to voting candidates without capacities during the February 25 presidential poll.
He also asks Nigerians not to vote for candidates who lacks the requisite capacity to bail the country out of its present challenges.
He made the call in a homily at the opening of the first plenary of the catholic bishops conference of Nigeria in Abuja..
The cleric said: “We desire leaders that know the aches and pains of Nigerians; leaders who can transcend narrow religious and ethnic boundaries to work selflessly for the common good of all Nigerians; to lift Nigerians from the condition of strangulating poverty and frustration to better levels.
“The theme of our conmference reflects the Bishops’ sensitivity to the great desire of the majority out there to shape the political future of this country; a country where as demonstrated in the murders in Owo, Katsina and Minna, where Fr. Isaac Achi, was burnt to death in the parish house and many others, and now the scarcity and high cost of fuel and the newly invented scarcity of the naira, have heightened a feeling of suspense and uncertainty.
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“Before these daunting challenges, we face two risks: giving in to hopelessness and despair or to compromise our values and end up with leaders who were never intended by God nor elected by men.
“The liturgy of this Sunday is apt for people living in our type of context, for it urges us to be aware of the kind of choices we make in life or even the choices we are about to make because these choices have serious implications for all of us. “With our votes in the coming weeks, we can either choose a reasonable and productive use of power towards unity, security, a good economy or just abandon our fate in the hands of people who have neither capacity nor conscience.
Are we simply, out of sentiments, going to make choices that would diminish or ignore our own good and the good of others and of our country? “We Bishops have been unambiguous in condemning the abuse of power and plundering of our rich human and natural resources. While the church remains non-partisan as Pope Francis teaches in Evangelii Gaudium no. 183, she cannot and must not remain on the side lines in the fight for justice.”
Kaigama lamented the: “Divided by selfish religious and ethnic interests that gravely undermine our unity” despite the motto of unity and faith, peace and progress.
