Victor Ezeja
Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Saturday criticized the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for misleading Nigerians and not being honest with his conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Jesuit Memorial College, he said: “When I heard Professor Mahmood on television, even yesterday, telling us that everything went perfectly well, I shed tears. He knows he was not telling the truth.”
Onaiyekan accused Mahmood of not telling Nigerians the truth when he knew things didn’t go well with the last general elections.
The revered cleric, however, insisted that the truth should prevail even as the opposition was challenging President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the court. He specifically said, “We should refuse to agree that this is a country where certificates are forged and it is okay.
READ ALSO: Photos: Powerful Nigerian Bishops In Rome For Cardinal Okpaleke – Cardinals Francis Arinze, Onaiyekan, Archbishops Valerian Okeke, Okolo, Bishops Uzoukwu, Isizoh And Umoren
“We should refuse to accept a situation where elections are rigged and you are told to go to court. These things have consequences. Jesus says you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. INEC should accept that they have a very heavy trust deficit.
“Nothing wrong with admitting that things did not go so well. If we don’t tell the truth, we will not move forward,” he said.
The Cardinal however pledged to keep praying for Nigeria as a religious person, saying “Nigerians are wonderful and I still hope that things will move fast. Whatever the judges may decide, whatever courts may say, at the end of the day, the truth will make us free”.
