Cardinal Onaiyekan speaks on 2023 elections, slams INEC chair Mahmood Yakubu

John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Bishop Emeritus of Abuja, has criticized Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for misleading Nigerians and being dishonest in the conduct of the 2023 elections.
The Cardinal talked to reporters on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the Jesuit Memorial College’s 10th anniversary celebration.
Onaiyekan accused Mahmood of lying to Nigerians when he knew things weren’t going well.
Even as the opposition challenged President Bola Tinubu’s triumph in court, the priest argued that the truth should prevail.
He specifically said,
“We should refuse to agree that this is a country where certificates are forged and it is okay.
“We should refuse to accept a situation where elections are rigged and you are told to go to court. These things have consequences. Jesus says you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. INEC should accept that they have a very heavy trust deficit.
“Nothing wrong with admitting that things did not go so well. If we don’t tell the truth, we will not move forward.
“When I heard Professor Mahmood on television, even yesterday, telling us that everything went perfectly well, I shed tears. He knows he was not telling the truth.”
The Cardinal maintained that he would keep praying for Nigeria.
“I am a religious person and I keep praying to God to forgive us and to show us the truth because if we tell the truth, things will move fast. Nigerians are wonderful and I still hope that things will move fast.
“Whatever the judges may decide, whatever courts may say, at the end of the day, the truth will make us free,” he added.