Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on religious leaders to help sanitize the political space as 2023 election draws nearer.
He said allowing politicians to always have their ways without reprimanding their excesses would spell doom for the country if not cautioned .
The former president made the call at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Penthouse residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, when the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Most Reverend Daniel Okoh, paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday.
According to Obasanjo, if politicians with no fear of God are allowed to have their way, the entire country would regret it, as the 2023 elections may either make or mar Nigeria. He therefore appealed to religious leaders in the country to stop bad politicians from destroying the country.
In a statement by Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, requested that Nigerian politicians should be made more responsible by the country’s religious leaders.
He said, “If you stand on the truth, you stand for justice and equity, it is then that politicians will not be able to mess us around and I will say it with all sense of responsibility now, if we do not watch it, the politicians will wreck this country.
“I think its the mistake of the past , that we say politics is not for the righteous. Now, if we take the righteous away from politics, and we leave politics to the unrighteous, the unrighteous will smear the righteous with the unrighteousness that they will carry into politics and will have no where to go.”
The former president praised CAN President and the Sultan of Sokoto for their cordiality on national issues..
The CAN president had earlier commended the former president for his roles in turning around the christian faith in the country, asserting that he had made valid contributions to Christianity in Nigeria.
Okoh said, “In 1976, you started with the establishment of this association, the CAN and in September 1999, you formed the Inter-Religious Faith Council 1999. On the political sector, you set up the National Political Reform Conference, which I am privileged to be a delegate, representing the christian faith. These were the few I could remember as I was planning for this visit.
Baba, you have played important roles in the political history of Nigeria and Africa, particularly your current role in the Horn of Africa, where the task is to ensure peace in the region. These are no doubt, valid contributions to christianity.”
On Obasanjo’s task, Okoh hinted that it was among the resolutions reached at the Inter Religious Council meeting held in Lagos, recently.
He said, “The council has resolved not to leave the political space to the politicians, that the religious leaders must get involved, not to be partisan, but, must give leadership to make sure that the values of our religion are brought to the space to help us live in peace and work for the unity of the nation, including fighting for justice. We are committed to the call Baba made.”