Catholic Bishop, John Onaiyekan, has said governors, including Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, have no duty to tell Nigerians who to vote for during elections.

Onaiyekan stated this on Thursday in Enugu State while speaking on the state of Nigeria’s electoral process and concerns surrounding the conduct of elections in the country.

According to the Catholic bishop, governors have only one vote like every other eligible voter and should not determine the choices of citizens at the polls.

Cardinal John Onaiyekan
Cardinal John Onaiyekan
“It is not the duty of Governor Soludo or other governors to tell people who to vote for. They only have one vote,” Onaiyekan said.

He maintained that elections should be allowed to take place freely and fairly, stressing that conducting elections should not be treated as an overly complicated process.

“Elections are not rocket science; they can be conducted freely and fairly,” he said.

Onaiyekan also expressed concern about the quality of elections conducted in Nigeria, saying he did not consider them sufficiently serious.

“As far as I’m concerned, the elections we have had so far in Nigeria have not been serious,” he said.

The bishop also referred to the appointment of Joash Amupitan as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the new electoral commission chairman had promised to make a difference.

“INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, came and said he would surprise us,” he said.

Onaiyekan further disclosed that bishops had raised concerns about the political situation in the country during a meeting with Tinubu.

He said the religious leaders used the opportunity to warn him about what they perceived as growing instability in the political environment and threats to the conduct of free and fair elections.

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“When we bishops visited Tinubu, we reminded him that the political space was shaking and that free and fair elections were being threatened,” Onaiyekan said.