The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah has said the focus of Nigerians on the 2023 presidential election should not be about having a rerun to determine the winner.
The vocal cleric said the focus should first be on how to have a successful, free and fair poll to usher in credible leaders.
According to him, talks about a possible rerun in the 2023 election are just heating up the polity and that is not what Nigerians need.
“Hopefully, and prayerfully, we will have another round of elections and our hope is that we will have elections that are free from violence, and free from manipulation. The process now is a little bit clearer from what we are hearing from INEC.
I think the biggest challenge for us now is that we have elections that are free, fair and credible and we are able to live the results that it produces.
Let us run first before we talk about re-rerun. We just hope that the elections will be free fair and credible, so a winner will emerge.
I don’t think we should begin to talk about the possibility of a rerun or whatever because we are just heating up the system. I think we should just assume that we are going to have an election and a winner will emerge,” he said in an interview with Punch.
Nigeria Has Nothing To Celebrate In 2022
Also speaking during the interview, Kukah submitted that Nigeria as a country didn’t achieve anything worth celebrating in 2022.
The Bishop lamented that the situation in the country is worse off but the future can be determined by taking the right decision.
He said, “The incoming government is yet to come, but I think all Nigerians now have to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves if we are better off now than before.
As we are entering the new year, we must look at one of the greatest moments not only in world history but also as they pertain to Nigeria. I mean how many phases of our national life (in 2022) can we proudly want to remember with a lot of joy and celebration?
The people of Morocco, for instance, will look at how they beat Brazil in the World Cup. So it is left for Nigerians to ask how they feel about the year that has gone, but the future is now in our hands.”
