President Goodluck Jonathan should call his supporters and aides to order, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja John Cardinal Onaiyekan, said yesterday in his review of the political activities in the country.
Many Nigerians are worried about the manner government officials and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign Council members have been heating up the polity.
Contrary to President Jonathan’s statements, his campaign team has been pillorying the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega.
Some of the President’s supporters have been making inflammatory statements, including saying Dr Jonathan must win the elections or the nation will burn.
But the President has always insisted that his ambition is not worth the blood of anyone.
Yesterday, the President said he would not be part of any Interim Government, an idea he described as treasonable and alien to the Constitution.
He also affirmed that the March 28 and April 11 dates picked for the general elections will remain sacrosanct.
Dr. Jonathan and Cardinal Onaiyekan spoke at the opening mass for the plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Garki, Abuja.
The President said he would not head an Interim Government, which can only be set up by a military government.
Besides, he said an ING will not be acceptable to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).
He said: “There is no way Goodluck Jonathan, elected by people with clear mandate, will now go and head an Interim Government. The only interim government anybody can constitute is that of the military government which, of course, will not be accepted.
“ECOWAS, AU, UN won’t accept it. And Nigeria will not be a pariah state. Clearly, the insinuation of interim government to me is treasonable.”
Stressing that the postponement of the elections was a blessing in disguise, he said: “Elections will be conducted as scheduled by INEC.”
“Look at what happened in Gombe on February 14… If the elections had been held, the casualty figure after that attack in Gombe would have been great. It is better for us to conduct elections that will not be contested, elections that are credible, free and fair.
”We believe no criminal element can come and prevent us from conducting our elections. I will not do anything because of personal interest; that would jeopardise the interest of this nation.
Jonathan also faulted utterances that overheat the polity and portray Nigeria as being at a point of going up in flames.
“When I listen to how some of us politicians talk… but God is supreme, this nation will survive”, he said.
He also thanked Christians for the prayers for the nation, adding that the whole world was going crazy because of the bloodshed by terrorist groups, including Boko Haram.
Cardinal Onaiyekan urged President Jonathan to call his aides and supporters to order so that they will desist from poisoning his resolve that elections will hold on the new dates – March 28 and April 11 – set by INEC and to ensure that the May 29 inauguration of a new government remains sacrosanct.
According to the Archbishop, personal insults and caricature should give way to national discourse that will benefit all.
He said: “Good families make a good nation. We can go even further to state that a good nation should be a family of families. The diversity of our nation is well known. But that is no reason why we cannot see ourselves as belonging to the same national family.
“Apart from the fact that the things we have in common far outweigh our differences, even those differences need not be causes for conflict and friction. If we acquire the habit of respecting one another, then our differences can become beauty to celebrate in harmony.
“Politics is very much in the air. It is a notable and sacred task meant to serve the common good of the family that is the nation. The hot competition between political parties should not make them forget the common objectives that everyone should be pursuing: justice, peace, prosperity, harmony, good order, building a nation we can all be proud of, etc.
“The differences are in strategies and priorities. These are what should be presented to us, positively and transparently, to guide our free choice at elections.
”There should, therefore, not be room for negative campaigns. Personal insults and caricatures should give way to rational discussion of issues that concern us all. Truth must be sacrosanct even in politics. Lies, deceit, calumnies cannot move us forward.
“They are the hallmarks of the bad politics which have not allowed us achieve the high level that we deserve as a nation. These are what builds tensions, heat up the polity, spreads dangerous rumours and cause deep distrust among rival political groups. All this is not in the interest of our people,” he said.
On the rescheduled elections, Cardinal Onaiyekan urged politicians to use the extra time to mend fences.
He also warned that the new dates should not be violated to avoid dire consequences.
He said that while the president has promised that the elections will hold on schedule and that May 29th remains sacrosanct for a new government to take over, he urged him to caution his supporters not to poison the air.
According to him, the dates are declarations by the President and he should be given the benefit of the doubt.
He said: “However, one judges the wisdom or even justice of the postponement of the elections, we should commend the political parties for patiently accepting a ‘fait accompli’ that seriously disrupted the plans – and maybe even budget – of many of them.
“The nation will nevertheless be better served if we use the unexpected extra time to work for better outcome in our elections. Can we spend the time left to change attitudes, repair broken relationships and build trust? For example, Mr. President has declared publicly that he is committed to a free and fair elections. While we believe him, we hope that he will not allow any of his supporters to poison this his holy resolve.
“In the same vein, he has declared that not only May 29 but also March 28 and April 11 are sacrosanct dates. There is no question of any new shift of dates. By the same token, he has excluded any idea of a much speculated ‘interim government’ for which there is no provisions in our constitution. These are sacred declarations from our President, which cannot be violated without the kind of serious consequence that is in nobody’s interest.
“It would be better, therefore, that we give Mr. President the benefit of the doubt and stop sowing doubts that only raise tensions and create avoidable anxieties.”
The Archbishop urged clergymen not to make reckless remarks and political utterances liable to compromise their sacred role.
He said, “The clergy should lead in this regard. As spiritual fathers to all for the common good, they should avoid reckless and politically partisan utterances, liable to compromise their sacred role and confuse the flock.
“We commend and encourage our members to have decided to take on the apostolate of public life, in the spirit of service and not for selfish aims. As Catholic politicians, they should be witnesses to the truth, justice and peace that are the hallmarks of our Catholic Social Teaching. If it is often said that ‘politics is dirty’, they should dare to be different, armed with God’s grace, and play a clean game, even at the cost of being declared losers at the polls.
“As for the rest of… faithful, you are ambassadors of Christ to spread peace and harmony all around us. Reject and refuse to spread unfounded alarms, dangerous rumours, promote mutual trust and love, so that, together we can make our nation one united family under God our father.”
