The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah said on Monday that anyone coming to meet him as a presidential candidate would have some explanations to make regarding how he or she intends to deal with the challenges facing the nation.
The renowned Christian cleric said Nigeria is no longer what it used to be and therefore whoever wants to become the next president of the country must show his track record of achievements from his previous office.
Kukah noted that citizens are asking many questions and that it is the responsibility of those who govern to deal frontally with the issue.
Naija News understands that the Catholic Bishop raised the observations today while speaking at an event organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, with the collaboration of The Kukah Centre.
The event was said to be organised to prepare those aspiring for public offices ahead of the 2023 election campaigns.
According to Kukah, Nigerians should not queue behind those displaying themselves as messiah, but rather vote for political leaders who truly understand the situation of things.
He stressed that campaigns henceforth must be identity-based, getting the right identity for the country and not emphasizing the things that really do matter.
Kukah said, “When we talk about 2023 elections, we need to talk about how we will get ourselves out of all of these.
“The questions that the ordinary Nigerians are asking are legitimate and it is the responsibility of those who govern to deal frontally with the issue. We need to re-image and re-imagine Nigeria because the Nigeria that we have today is not the Nigeria that many of us can recognize.”
My Nephew And His Driver Are Still In Kidnapper’s Den
Speaking further at the event, Bishop Kukah expressed displeasure on the spate of insecurity in Nigeria. The cleric said he has paid about N30 million as a ransom for the release of his church priests who had been victims of kidnappers in the past.
Naija News reports that Kukah made the shocking revelation in the one-day programme tagged: “High-level forum on political communication and issue-based campaign in the 2023 general elections.”
He said: “Before coming here, I was speaking with my brother, because two days ago, my nephew, his mother, and the driver were on their way to Abuja when they ran into the hands of kidnappers. My brother’s wife had an amputation some three months ago and they were bringing her to Abuja, so when the kidnappers saw the stomp on her leg, they had mercy on her and let her go.
“Right now, as we speak, my nephew and the driver of the vehicle are currently in the hands of the kidnappers, how it is going to end? I don’t know. Then they said they wanted N50m, they then said they wanted N20m, now they are staying on N30m.”
Speaking about the payment of ransom totalling N30 million to rescue the priests in his diocese from the hands of kidnappers, the cleric said he was not ashamed to share the information.
“I am the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, I have spent about N30m the money I don’t have because my priests were kidnapped and I have nowhere to turn to.
“I am not ashamed to say it because these are essential realities. Anyone who wants to become president of Nigeria cannot pretend to stand before me without giving me empirical evidence from his or her record about how they intend to deal with these issues because there is a collective feeling of alienation.
“Here in Abuja, just about a month or so, when the threats came that the bandits will enter into Abuja, everybody went undercover,” the Bishop said.
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