Cardinal Arinze warns on 2007 polls
Jul 03, 2006
A member of the Vatican, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze warned yesterday that the 2007 general elections may lead to a major crisis if the nation’s leaders failed to uphold the rule of law, saying the inability of past leaders to sanction violators of electoral laws was responsible for the breakdown of law and order in the country.
(vanguardngr.com, July 01, 2006) ENUGU— He, therefore, asked Nigerians to pray fervently for the success of the transition programme, stressing that 2007 marks another milestone in Nigeria’s democratic experience and should thus be committed to God so that a righteous leader would be elected for the nation.
Cardinal Arinze who spoke with reporters at the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu shortly on arrival for this weekend’s puritan ordination of Holy Ghost fathers, said weak leadership and inability of the country to enforce the law effectively on people who violated the constitution in the past may jeopardize future elections, stressing that unless violators of electoral laws were brought to book, the nation would continue to witness crisis.
Saying that Nigeria’s democracy in the last seven years had thrived with some positive and negative aspects, Arinze noted that the country would have been one of the best democracies in the world if her potentials had been adequately tapped.
His words: “Elections are to select those who would govern us. It matters very much what type of people govern us because, their decisions affect other people, even those not yet born. Therefore, all those who have a hand in the election should please be aware that it is a serious matter, and should therefore, do their part so that people will freely vote for the persons they think will answer their need.
The cardinal who was received at the airport by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Rt. Rev. Anthony Gbuji, his Anglican Counterpart, Dr Emmanuel Chukwuma, acting National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, among other dignitaries, however, implored the religious leaders not to relent in praying for the unity and growth of christianity worldwide.
He attributed the crisis in Onitsha, Anambra State to people who, he said, had “lived above the law”, asking that “something should be done to render them ‘less able’ to cause further damage.
Cardinal Arinze warns on 2007 polls