ABUJA – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged religious leaders to avoid inflaming passions, through teachings and moral prescriptions, that could promote conflicts in the 2015 general elections.
Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of INEC, gave the advice on Tuesday in Abuja at a one-day summit organised by the commission with religious leaders in attendance.
Jega said the responsibility of religious leaders was to guide politicians, who were their followers, and members of their spiritual organisations to be law abiding in the forthcoming elections.
“It is also the responsibility of our religious leaders as spiritual guides to mobilise Nigerians for active participation in the electoral process.
“We believe that it will be useful to use the pulpits, Mosques and Churches to urge people to register; collect their voting cards as well as come out to vote for the candidates of their choice.
“We are not asking our religious leaders to be partisans; you can continue to do this role creditably by being non-partisan and patriotic,” Jega said.
Jega said in the past four years, INEC had done everything possible for the successful conduct of 2015 general elections.
“We have reviewed what we did in 2011 and we strengthened what needed to be strengthened.
“We learnt bitter lessons about what failed and took measures to correct them over and above what we did to make 2011 general elections credible.
“We have introduced many policies and additional measures, working together with stakeholders to make the 2015 general elections much better than those of 2011.’’
In his address, the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, pledged that the Christian community would give INEC the necessary support to ensure peaceful and successful general elections in 2015.
“We want to make sure that every Christian has his voter’s card and is ready to vote and follow the rules and regulation set by INEC.
“For the challenge of security that we are having, we want to assure you that we are praying and it will soon be over,’’ Orisetjafor said.
Orisetjafor, who was represented by the Secretary-General of CAN, Dr Musa Asake, however, urged INEC to address challenges associated with Continuous Voter Registration and the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, to ensure that all voters got their cards.
The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, called on Nigerians to ensure successful and peaceful general elections in 2015.
“It is not enough to pray; we must support our prayers with action and the action is to educate all those around us about the need to discharge their civil responsibilities to this great nation of ours,’’ Abukakar said.
Abubakar, represented by the Secretary-General of the council, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, pledged SCIA’s continued commitment to ensure that Muslims continued their civic responsibilities to the country.
He called on the security agencies to do all within their power to ensure peaceful and successful general elections next year.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the religious leaders and other participants prayed for the success of 2015 general elections, overcoming of security challenges facing the country and for its development. (NAN)