The Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has warned that Nigerians may boycott the 2027 general elections if they perceive that the outcome has already been decided in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, the Catholic cleric said any belief that the APC was certain to retain power regardless of the electoral process would further deepen voter apathy and weaken the country’s democracy.
According to him, public confidence in the electoral system must be restored to encourage greater participation and ensure that elected leaders derive genuine legitimacy from the people.
He said, “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. 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.”
Onaiyekan maintained that credible elections remained the foundation of good governance, warning that flawed electoral processes inevitably produce poor leadership.
He said, “Genuine democracy is built on free and fair elections. 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.”
The Cardinal lamented that Nigeria had yet to conduct an election that enjoyed the confidence of the majority of citizens, noting that the declining turnout recorded in recent elections reflected widespread public distrust in the electoral process.
He urged the Federal Government and relevant institutions to restore confidence in the system before the 2027 elections.
“I think 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 per cent of Nigerians voting. If the electoral field is seen to be fair and equal for everybody, then people will know that their votes will count,” he said.
The cleric stressed that unlike military administrations, democratic governments derived their authority from the electorate and must therefore remain accountable to the people through credible elections.
“When we were under military regime, we didn’t talk about elections and the military boys who were ruling us, they didn’t claim to be ruling in our name. 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,” he added.
Onaiyekan also renewed his call for comprehensive electoral reforms, arguing that the current method of appointing the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission raised concerns about its independence.
He said, “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.”
The cleric further argued that the credibility of elections depended not only on the electoral umpire but also on the conduct of security agencies deployed during polls.
“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,” he said.
Commenting on the August 15 Osun State governorship election, Onaiyekan, who recently led the National Peace Committee in facilitating the signing of a peace accord by political parties, acknowledged that previous accords had not always prevented violence but insisted they remained necessary.
He urged politicians to embrace peaceful campaigns and allow voters to exercise their democratic rights without intimidation.
“We are only praying and hoping that at least it will allow peace to reign and allow the poor people to do their voting while the politicians will hold their gun and not destroy the whole situation because of their own political ambitions,” he said.
