The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has raised the alarm about Nigerians’ increasingly low interest in the electoral process that often culminates in the emergence of new political leaders for the country.

The Catholic bishops warned that such a development could portend great danger for Nigeria’s democracy, as it could mean that only a few persons would participate in choosing political leaders for millions of Nigerians.

The Catholic bishops, in a communique released by the CBCN at the end of their first plenary session for 2026 that ended in Abuja on Wednesday, challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Assembly members and the security agencies to seek ways of regaining the trust of Nigerians in the electoral process, leveraging the coming 2027 general elections.

The communique, jointly signed by the outgoing CBCN president, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, referred to data from INEC, which indicated dwindling turnout and participation of voters in election activities.

“In 2003, over 60 per cent of registered voters came out to participate in the election. But recent data from the INEC indicated that only 23 per cent of registered voters exercised their franchise in the 2023 general elections. This is a significant decline from participation in previous elections.

“Again, the recently concluded FCT Area Councils election, touted as a full-dress rehearsal for 2027, fell to an abysmal seven per cent of registered voters, a strong indicator of increasing voter apathy. This calls into question the legitimacy of elected officials in a democratic dispensation.

“But to save democracy in our nation, there is a need to respect the will of the people and promote free, fair and credible elections in our nation. To this end, we demand that the National Assembly review its recent stand on the electoral reform.

“We urge our lawmakers to revive the confidence of voters by ensuring that the Electoral Act provides for the mandatory transmission of election results in real-time from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at the polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

“This will prevent any human interference with the expressed will of the people. Failure to do this will only aggravate voter apathy. At the same time, we continue to urge all eligible voters to come out en masse, vote, and ensure that their votes count.”

The Catholic bishops also made suggestions on how the federal government could tackle the growing insecurity in the country. “To deal with the problem of insecurity, we advocated more proactive measures to secure Nigeria. Governments at all levels are encouraged to invest more in modern technological equipment for surveillance.

“There’s also the need to strengthen intelligence-gathering measures by security agencies to enable them to proactively perform their duties. Governments should also ensure that culprits involved in insurgency, banditry or kidnapping, and those who fund and support their activities, are quickly arrested, prosecuted and punished under the law to deter others.

“There is the impression that the government is complicit when there is a delay in the prosecution of arrested terrorists or when there is an outright pardon and reintegration of so-called repentant Boko Haram adherents and other criminals into the security forces.”

The Catholic bishops commended the fact that the government has finally admitted that it is not coping adequately with its responsibility to secure the lives and property of its citizens; hence, it is seeking external help. “While external help is commendable and appreciated, the security and destiny of our nation are in our hands, and we do have the wherewithal to achieve them, with the help of God.” (The Sun)

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