Clerics express concern about worsening monetisation of politics

Clerics under the auspices of United Pastors Initiative for Good Governance (UGIP) have expressed displeasure about the rate at which electoral processes have been tied to the use of money in Nigeria.

 Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Saturday, president of UGIP, Reverend James Muya said the majority of Nigerian leaders are blinded by greed and selfish ambitions.

He said: “A system where an individual spends tens of billions to become Governor, hundreds of millions to take a seat in the National Assembly only with intentions of recovering all and also making profit. A system where elected politicians overnight become the richest persons in the society, a system where even the business characters conspire with politicians to become so-called successful.

“With all the aforementioned, tell me where the common masses belong, if not at their mercies, worshiping them continually with the hope to receive the fallen crumbs from their tables. It is therefore not surprising that our youths have become tools in their hands to harvest their selfish ambitions.

“…The present Nigerian system is a system where there are cabals who decide which person becomes the President, the President decides who becomes a Governor while the Governor decides which loyalist comes to the National Assembly and the list goes on and on. How would you expect justice and fairness?”

Reverend Muya however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts in the fight against insecurity especially in the North-east.

According to him, before President Buhari took over office in 2015, many of us in the North East had no homes and with no sign of hope of going back to our villages, but he made our return possible in fulfillment of his promise to us.

Also speaking, the founder faithful faith and deliverance Ministry worldwide Apostle Anza Yakubu (JP), while appreciating security agencies for their efforts at tackling insecurity, faulted Buhari for lopsided appointment of head of security agencies.  

“There is one thing we observed in the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, that thing is that all the heads of security agencies are from one faith which is an error,” he said.