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NIGERIA-ELECTIONS Mar-12-2007 (330 words) xxxi
Nigerian bishops urge politicians to ensure free, fair elections
By Peter Ajayi Dada
Catholic News Service
LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) -- The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has urged political leaders to ensure that the general elections are conducted under free and fair conditions.
The April elections are "matters of grave concern for us and for most Nigerians. Past experiences make Nigerians enter this season of elections with heightened trepidation," said the bishops in a statement. Many Nigerians claimed that the re-election of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 was rigged.
They warned that the world was watching to see how Nigerians would conduct the elections, which the bishops said could provide Nigeria respect as a democracy. The elections will be the first transition of power of democratically elected presidents in the country.
"These elections will either increase or diminish the respect that the international community has for Nigeria," they said in the statement released after the bishops' meeting, which concluded in early March. The meeting focused on "Good Governance, Democracy and Christian Responsibility."
"To our politicians, we ask: 'What does it profit a politician if he steals the mandate to rule and loses the trust of the people?' We cannot afford to fail, and there must be no rigging," they said. Nigerians, they said, deserve and demand free and fair elections from the ruling and opposition parties.
The bishops also urged Nigerians to vote according to their consciences.
The bishops called on the politicians to refrain from intemperate and uncivil language and to address important issues such as poverty, unemployment, energy, education, security, religious disharmony and the marginalization of women.
They bishops said that "instead of a campaign marked by character assassination, we need a campaign that discusses how economic reforms can lead to economic independence and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals." The goals were adopted by almost 200 U.N. member nations in 2000 to slash global poverty in half by 2015.
END
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