“Anomalous situation”: Cardinal in Nigeria on Delayed Presidential Petition Verdict

He added, “I’m still waiting for the court to tell me who won the election. It doesn’t make much sense to be swearing in people when they are still in court.”

The 79-year-old Cardinal who retired as Archbishop of Nigeria’s Abuja Archdiocese in November 2019 said he found it regrettable that “it is taking longer for the court to come to its decision.”

“I know it has happened with governors but the outcome has really not been the best of all cases,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said in reference to the March 18 Gubernatorial polls.

He went on to underscore the need for reforms in the electoral system in Africa’s most populous nation. 

“I think we need to review our election process, so we do have a winner who will be sworn in and whom everybody would rally around,” he said, and added, “My problem is that the whole system of our election must be properly reviewed so that it would be easier for winners to emerge according to the wishes of the people.”

The Cardinal who started his Episcopal Ministry in January 1983 as Auxiliary Bishop of Nigeria’s Ilorin Diocese lamented, “It is not right to have a system that is constantly contested. We should find out why every election is being contested.”

On Wednesday, May 3, Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petitions Court announced that all petitions contesting the February 25 poll are to be examined on May 8.

In his May 4 interview, Cardinal Onaiyekan attributed “bad governance” and what he termed “uneven government policies” to the situation in Nigeria. 

He said, “There is no fault line when it comes to the consequences of bad governance. I am not looking for a Christian or a Muslim President – most of the bickering amongst the masses are as a result of uneven government policies.”

When it comes to consequences, he said, “There is no difference between Christians and Muslims – Nigerians have no issues with one another but politicians manage to manipulate our fault lines through religion and tribe for their selfish gains.”

“If there are problems, people often run to their leaders, not their religious clerics, because they want their rights to be granted,” the Cardinal said. 

He urged the President-elect to tackle the problems plaguing the economy in order to “ensure a vibrant populace.”

“We need to fix the economy so we can be proud all over the world and as far as the agenda for the new government is concerned, we are all watching,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said.

He posed, “Is there going to be a change or improvement, especially security, IDPs?” 

“These are the issues and the new government has a duty to serve us and do what is right,” the Archbishop emeritus of Abuja Archdiocese said.

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Despite these challenges, Cardinal Onaiyekan said he believes that a new Nigeria can still emerge.

“I am 80 so I am not going anywhere. I am still dreaming that before I go to paradise, I should see a better Nigeria and I believe it is possible,” the Nigerian Cardinal said.

He continued, “In university, I believed what we were told, that with independence, Nigeria would become like all the great nations. I have been waiting for almost 70 years now and we are still where we are. In fact, we seem not to have made much progress.”

“Maybe I am expecting too much from my country but that is because I have a high opinion of my nation and I love my nation and I would expect that those who are ruling us should share the same emotions so that we can go all over the world proud,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said in the May 4 interview.

He continued, “I think we should put our rulers on notice that it can no longer be business as usual.”

“We understand that politics is a difficult but noble act which is why leaders must sacrifice themselves for the common good,” the Cardinal said, and added, “If we decide we would rule ourselves democratically, we must all accept the rules of democracy.”

Cardinal Onaiyekan said, “Those who want to be in power should allow that rule to run its course. This anomalous situation should end.”