Emmanuel OchayiFormer Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo voiced concerns about the menace of corruption in Nigeria’s elections and governance generally.
Obasanjo spoke at The Gospel Faith Mission International’s annual convention to mark their 57th annual convention and 67th anniversary.
He urged Christians to actively engage in politics to promote transparency.
Speaking on the theme, ‘The Roles of the Church in Nation Building at a Time Like This,’ Obasanjo emphasized the importance of the church addressing societal challenges such as insecurity, hopelessness, and poverty.
“The foundation of election in Nigeria is corruption and you cannot make corruption the foundation of anything for it to be good,” he said.
The former Nigerian president criticized the reliance on corruption as the foundation of Nigeria’s elections, referencing his experiences during the 1999 local government elections. Obasanjo recounted instances where funding for various government agencies was requested for the election, but he refused, believing that agencies should be adequately funded for their responsibilities.
‘The two first sad and bad experiences that I had, was when we had local govt elections in 1999. A few days to the election, they said to me where is the money for the police, money for INEC, money for DSS. I said no money.”
The General-Overseer of GOFAMINT, E. O. Abina, recalled his interaction with Obasanjo during the former President’s time in office, highlighting Obasanjo’s continued involvement in teaching Sunday School.
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