Obasanjo says politicians will ruin Nigeria if religious leaders do not step in

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, warned on Wednesday that if religious leaders did not step in, politicians would ruin Nigeria.

When the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Most Reverend Daniel Okoh, paid him a courtesy call at his apartment in the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Penthouse in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, Obasanjo made this statement.

Obasanjo forewarned that the 2023 elections may make or break Nigeria if politicians with no regard for the will of God were allowed to have their way. Therefore, he pleaded with the nation's religious leaders to prevent corrupt politicians from destroying the nation.

Obasanjo asked the nation's religious leaders to encourage Nigerian politicians to exercise greater responsibility. He made this call in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.

He said, “In the next election, if we do not watch it, it may make or break Nigeria. And I pray that it will make Nigeria.

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 and we will all regret it.

“And where can we look for salvation, that is where you religious leaders have a significant role to play.

“I think it's 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 nowhere to go.”

However, he praised the CAN President for his remark and claimed that Okoh's personality had been discussed with him by the Sultan of Sokoto.

“I must say, I am impressed with you and the Sultan, who is already singing your praises. You both can make a turn-around. You can work together.

“Having both the Sultan of Sokoto and the President of CAN already on the same page, maybe our politicians will listen, and if our politicians don’t listen, maybe our people will listen,” Obasanjo added.

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