Christian Leaders in Nigeria Announce Three-day Prayer for Peaceful Elections in 2023

They further ask Christians to pray “that God should judge anyone out-rightly, who, out of selfishness, is planning to create chaos in the forthcoming elections no matter how highly placed in the nation.”

Nigerian voters will be expected to vote for the President, Vice President, Senators and Members of Parliament in polls that are scheduled to take place between February and March 2023.

General elections in Africa’s most populous nation have been described as being important for the continent and the rest of the world. Last December, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Liang, said, “For Nigeria, Africa and the world, the outcome and the conduct of the 2023 elections is important,”

Ms. Liang added, “The world would be looking at this election; will it be relatively secure, will it be conducted relatively well, and will the outcome be the one the people of the country believe in?”

In the May 3 statement, representatives of Christian leaders in Nigeria urges citizens of the West African nation to pray for an end to insecurity in the country.

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Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009 when the Boko Haram insurgency began.

Since then, the group, one of largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been organizing indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious and political groups as well as civilians.

In the latest statement, CAN officials urge Christians to pray “that daily blood shedding of innocent people and other violent acts in Nigeria should be put to an end by our government and for divine intervention.”

Christians need to ask the Lord to “show us mercy as a nation concerning the blood of innocent people already shed in this nation, that is calling upon God for vengeance,” CAN officials say in their May 3 statement in which they announce the three-day prayer initiative. 

They add that the people of God in Nigeria need to call upon the Lord to “cause the terrorists, the gunmen, the bandits, the kidnappers and other violent people in our midst to abandon their evil ways and give this nation respite.”

Announcing the three-day prayer initiative, CAN officials encourage Christians to pray that the Nigerian military would have an upper hand in subduing the terrorists and other violent people causing mayhem in the country.  

They further ask Christians to pray “that our generation would experience a new Nigeria where there is equity, justice and people irrespective of ethnic group, religion or political affiliation.”

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.