Stop heating up polity, Sultan group tells Oyedepo, ex-militants

Stop heating up polity, Sultan group tells Oyedepo, ex-militants

The Jamaatul Nasril Islam, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad III,
has asked the General Overseer of the Living Faith World Outreach Ministries,
also known as Winners’ Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, to stop heating up the
polity ahead of the general elections in the country.

Also, the group cautioned Niger Delta ex-militants like the leader of the Niger
Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo, Victor Ben Ebikabowei(Boy Loaf),
Government Ekpudomenowei(Tompolo) and other militants in the same manner.
JNI’s Secretary-General, Dr Abubakar Aliyu-Khalid, at a press conference in
Kaduna on Sunday, said rather than fanning the ember of war, Oyedepo and his
likes, should preach peace ahead the general elections.

Acknowledging that elections, the world over, are usually associated with
anxieties, uncertainty and tension, Aliyu-Khalid, said there was the need for
Nigerians to refrain from making inflammatory statements that could jeopardise
the polls.

According to him, the forthcoming presidential election was the most keenly
contested in Nigeria history, noting that even at that, there was the absolute need
for all Nigerians, regardless of religion or tribe to shun violence before, during and
after the elections.

The JNI scribe urged all the contestants to accept the outcome of the elections,
saying in every election, there must be winners and losers.

He therefore urged the two major political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party
and the main opposition All Progressives Congress, to abide by the Abuja accord.

He said, “While all these situations keep growing by each day that come to pass,
the political atmosphere increasingly gets charged. With clashes between rival
political supporters and thugs occurring at one place or the other, a state of fear
of drifting to wide-spread violence as witnessed in 2011, is already setting in.

“For instance, Bishop Oyedepo of Winners Chapel at Ota, was reported to have
made a lot of inciting hate speech recently. Tompolo and Asari Dokubo are not
left out. This is just to mention but a few.

“The JNI, therefore, finds it necessary to discharge what it believes is an
obligation upon itself; that is, to call on all Nigerians to shun violence in any way,
in any form and at all phases of the elections and its aftermath.”

He called on not only Muslims but the entire citizens of the country to
“demonstrate real and genuine sense of patriotism, responsibility, tolerance and
commitment to peace and stability in Nigeria, before, during and after the
forthcoming elections.”

He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to be committed
in ensuring free, fair and credible elections.

He said, “Bearing the burden of the trust of leadership, being conscious of the
imperative of truthfulness in salvaging a rather drifting polity, the JNI hereby
asserts that the most significant antidotes to violence are free, fair and credible
elections on one hand and faithful acceptance of the outcome of elections by all
on the other.

In any election, there must be winners and losers, and we would only get it right
when the elections are obviously and manifestly seen to be transparent and
credible in conduct, and consequently the losers accept defeat in good faith.”