As the 2023 general election draws closer, Catholic Bishops under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that technology is transparently deployed to increase the confidence of the people in the electoral process.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its second plenary meeting for 2022 held in Orlu, Imo State, the bishops said as laudable as the Electoral Bill signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari may be, INEC needs to implement it transparently.
“2023 general elections are fast approaching. We commend the National Assembly and the president for enacting and signing into law the Electoral Bill 2022. We acknowledge the president’s commitment to ensuring a level playing ground for all candidates in the elections.
“Furthermore, we commend INEC for its innovations, especially in the area of technology, to ensure free, fair and credible elections. We, however, enjoin the commission to ensure that this technology is transparently deployed to increase the confidence of the people in the electoral process,” they said.
The bishops who also described as unlawful and sinful all forms of vote selling and buying and advised all politicians and voters to refrain from doing so.
They further described the protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) since February 14, 2022 as unacceptable, urging the federal government and ASUU to find a quicker and better way of resolving the matters under contention so that public universities will re-open, that resorting to courts may not be the best and fastest way to solve the problem.
The bishops while speaking on concerns over the adoption of same-faith candidates by one of the political parties, said: “While it is not our responsibility as religious leaders to dictate to political parties the choices of their presidential, vice presidential, and other candidates, we must advise the citizenry to bear in mind the implications of these choices while electing the next set of leaders.
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