Catholic Church Denies Endorsing Political Office Seekers

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos and President of the Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, has said contrary to insinuations, the church has not endorsed any candidate at any level in the 2015 general election.

Kaigama said rather, the church would not only continue to support those seeking elective office, but would also continue to demand good governance and accountability from those holding public office.

The cleric, who was represented by the VicarGeneral, Administration and Religious of the archdiocese, Monsignor Cletus Gotan, said this at the commencement of the 2015 Lenten Campaign at the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Jos yesterday.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he said that every political office aspirant would receive the blessings of the church, adding that such blessing did not mean that such candidate had received the endorsement of the church.

The cleric expressed worry at the tension generated by the 2015 election as if there would never be any other election in the country and admonished politicians to desist from campaigns of hate and division.

He added that the theme of the Lenten campaign, ‘Enforcing the right to good governance’, was conceived with the realisation that the ultimate goal of any person seeking any office should be for the public good and that such person should exhibit high sense of service and responsibility in the discharge of the demands of such office.

Kaigama said, “The heat generated by the present electioneering (campaigns) is as if there will not be 2019 and that politics will come and end in 2015. We should be careful and learn from countries that have been engulfed in one form of crisis or the other, especially of religious nature, because such countries are yet to overcome the trauma they went through.”

While praising the efforts of the Justice, Development and Peace/ Caritas Commission in organising the campaign, the second of its kind, the cleric lamented that Nigerians appeared to have lost all sense of humanity as they appeared to have abandoned the feelings of others as well as the respect and sanctity of human lives.