THE Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Abuja Archdiocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, today cautioned against the perils of electoral malpractices, stating that the public, not politicians, bear the direct consequences of a rigged election.
He also supported the proposal for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to be televised live, saying it should not be “like a secret meeting” since voters deserved to know how their ballots were being defended.
These were said by Onaiyekan in an interview with journalists after Mass to celebrate the completion of this year’s 57th World Communication Week.
Rev. Fr. Michael Umoh, National Director of Social Communications, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, stated during the occasion that the Church is an extension of Christ’s mission, which is why communication is vital.
He added that because Jesus Christ’s communication style was effective, he could only report to the Father on the success of his mission of revealing the Father to the world.
“It is not enough to communicate, it is also as important that we communicate effectively. Pope Paul 6 was aware of this great need. Thus in 1967, he established the World Communication Day Celebration as an annual event during which Catholics all over the world reflect on a theme which focuses on media and communication. Since then, 57 years now, successive Popes have maintained the tradition.”
Onaiyekan urged media to give all parties a voice as they cover the activities leading up to the May 29th handover.
He did, however, call on the judges in the PEPT to render fair judgments and make their proceedings transparent so that Nigerians might reignite their trust in the judiciary.
He said, “As journalists, you do your job, cover everything, but try and listen to everybody and relay to the public what is happening because they want to see.
“Isn’t it why it is important the petition before the tribunal, the possibility that the tribunal should be available to all of us to be able to follow what is happening?
“For me, this is very important; one thing that Nigerians don’t seem to realize is that when elections are rigged, it is not the contestants or the politicians who are worst hit. Those who are the most impacted is me and you, but as it stands, we don’t even have locus standi in court. We are the ones who should be complaining in court that my votes have been bastardized, but they tell me I cannot go in the court because I did not contest the election.
“If we cannot go and make our case, at least let us see what is happening inside there. We believe that our honourable judges will do their best to make judgements that are correct, they do what is right. Everybody will see it and it will help to calm nerves, we will know that the right thing has been done, but if they do all these somehow like a secret meeting, even if they did the right thing, we will say who knows what they said.
“So, it is in the interest of the judiciary to allow this thing to be done. All these issues that there are witnesses, whose witnesses are not meant to be made public, for goodness sake, what are they hiding? If you have anything that people shouldn’t know, you shouldn’t be saying it.
“I am praying that the Honourable Justices will find a way even though they have not been doing it before. But they should be ready to do it now. It has reached a stage in Nigeria that we have to be doing things we have not been doing before, because if we have been doing things the way we have been doing it before, then it means we want things to continue the way it has been happening, and we see it has not been helping us, we must boldly take new steps and accept new things.”
