The retired Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, says the Igbo-speaking people of South-east should be allowed to freely choose their preferred presidential candidate without interference from state governors.
Mr Onaiyekan, a cardinal, spoke on Thursday during an interview with Afia TV in Enugu.
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The cleric, who visited the state to attend the 22nd Conference of the Guild of Editors, was responding to questions about Governor Charles Soludo’s comment about the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Soludo had repeatedly argued that Igbo people should not “waste their votes” on the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, because, according to him, he would not win.
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The governor has openly expressed support for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress candidate.
‘Igbo should be allowed to choose’
When asked about his comment, Mr Onaiyekan stressed that Mr Soludo or other governors are not in a position to make choices for Igbos.
“I don’t know what Soludo has told Ndigbo. All I can say is that Ndigbo should be allowed to choose who should be their president freely,” he responded.
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The cardinal maintained that although governors are elected representatives, they should not determine how Nigerians cast their votes.
“It is not the duty of governors to teach, to tell people how they should vote,” he said.
“The governors will have their own votes now. Every governor will be able to vote. He will vote for himself. Let others do.”
The cleric emphasised that elections afford Nigerians an opportunity to express their political preferences.
He then urged Nigerians to exercise their right freely during elections.
“At least, that’s the only opportunity that we have to express our minds. Let us do it,” he added.
Background
Messrs Obi and Mr Soludo have been engaged in a war of words in recent years.
The face-off between the two politicians took a fresh twist in early September when the state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, claimed that Governor Soludo’s administration was still repaying loans and other debts incurred by Mr Obi and other past governors of the state.
Responding to the claim in a now-viral clip, Mr Obi said he owed no debt in Anambra when he left office as the state’s governor.
The NDC candidate subsequently reiterated that he did not incur any debt as governor but rather saved over ₦75 billion in the state’s account.
In response, the Anambra government released loan records, arguing that Mr Obi’s administration took out eight external loans totalling $123.7 million, with $92.35 million outstanding.
On Thursday, Mr Obi reiterated that he left over $150 million in savings for the Anambra State Government when he left office as governor in 2014.
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