Most-Rev. Samuel Uche, the Prelate of Methodist Church, Nigeria, has said that it will be counterproductive for Ndigbo to boycott the 2019 general elections as canvassed by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Uche said this during a press conference in Umuahia on Monday, adding that the people of the South-East did not stand to gain anything from boycotting the polls, NAN reports.
Kanu had insisted that Ndigbo should not take part in the general elections but instead called for a referendum to have the Republic of Biafra.
The cleric said, “I do not like the idea of Ndigbo boycotting the general elections. It would amount to shooting ourselves in the foot.
“If Ndigbo boycott the elections, other sections of Nigeria would still go ahead to elect leaders for the country during the polls.
“What Nigeria need as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious country is just a mature leader not a bigot”.
He urged Nigerians to elect leaders who would be ready to unite the various segments of the country in order to achieve a homogeneous nation.
He warned that candidates who failed to address the problems of insecurity, unemployment, salaries and pensions as well as general poverty should not be re-elected.
He also admonished the political class to promote things that would help to unite Nigeria.
The prelate dismissed the speculation that there was an agenda to Islamise the country, saying that it was practically untenable to “Islamise or Christianise” Nigeria.
He added that Nigeria is a secular nation and that every Nigerian should be free to worship and belong to any religion of their choice.
On the 2019 polls, he appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct credible, free and fair elections so that votes would count.
“INEC must ensure fairness in the conduct of the elections. Let the best candidate win, irrespective of his or her political party.
“All I want is credible elections. Any person that won should be declared, whether Muslim of Christian.
“There should not be any intimidation by security operatives and manipulation of results. Let the votes count,” the clergyman added.
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