Cleric warns Nigerians against selling votes for cash or rice, urging focus on competence and integrity in leadership.
Ahead of the 2027 general election, the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Mike Okonkwo, has urged Nigerians to reject politicians who rely on vote-buying and handouts, warning that the country cannot achieve meaningful progress by recycling failed leaders.
Okonkwo made the remarks in an interview with THISDAY in Enugu on Tuesday, noting the church has a critical role to play in providing civic education that will enable citizens to make informed leadership choices, noting that churches remain closest to the people at the grassroots.
According to him, many Christians remain politically uninformed, a situation he said has contributed to the emergence of leaders who lack the competence and character required for public office.
“It is sad that in Nigeria, people collect N5,000 to vote for somebody they know does not have the capacity to lead and then come back to complain about poor representation. That is why we continue to witness rising poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment,” he said.
Okonkwo stressed that government officials are elected to provide security, education, healthcare and infrastructure, and should not be viewed as doing citizens a favour by fulfilling those responsibilities.
“When the government provides these things, we think they are doing us a favour. That is wrong because they are meant to serve us. We must keep telling people not to mortgage their future by voting for those who will destroy it, but rather for leaders who can deliver the true dividends of democracy,” he said.
Speaking on the qualities Nigerians should consider ahead of the 2027 presidential election, the cleric urged voters to look beyond religion and ethnicity and focus on competence, capacity and integrity.
“We must begin to look beyond religion and ethnicity and focus on people who can do the job, people who have the capacity, competence and integrity to lead.
“If somebody has disappointed before, you should not put him back. We are a country of over 200 million people, and there are many Nigerians who can deliver this nation. We must not continue to allow those who cannot lead, but only know how to share money and bags of rice, to occupy public office,” he said.
Citing Abia State as an example, Okonkwo said good governance naturally earns public support.
“In Abia State, for instance, we have seen many governorship aspirants stepping aside because they know that Governor Alex Otti has worked and that the people want him to continue. They do not want to go back to where they are coming from.
