According to the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests’ Association, it will now encourage Nigerians to participate in partisan politics.
The association stated this in a communique issued after Friday’s 35th Annual General Meeting in Calabar.
The priests stated that one of the agreements reached the Cross River State capital meeting was to encourage Nigerians to participate in politics.
The AGM, which began on Monday, had as its theme: “The Imperative of Effective Evangelisation through Inclusiveness and Political Awareness in Nigeria.”
In the communiqué, the association expressed concern about the country’s leadership crisis and promised to change the narrative in 2023.
On the other hand, the priests stated that they would continue to respect the sacredness of the pulpit and use it only for the proclamation of God’s word, not for political campaigns.
They emphasized that Nigeria’s current sociopolitical situation required all hands on deck to help put the country on the path of progress and development.
The communique said:
We shall use our resources and structures of the church to mobilise all members of Christ’s faithful to participate actively in the task of electing God-fearing and competent leaders to political offices.
We commit to faithfully adhere to the provisions of Canon 287 S 2 that prohibits priests from participating in partisan politics.
We shall, therefore, encourage political participation among all.
The NCDPA called on the government to put in place the necessary structures to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
Meanwhile, the association said it planned to avert restiveness in the country by productively engaging the youth.
We commit to effectively maintaining our closeness to the young people by creating an enabling environment for talents and skill acquisition programmes and entrepreneurship, especially for those at the local level to avert restiveness, the priests said in the communiqué.
The priests urged the government at all levels to implement workable plans to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians affected by the floods.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the communique was signed jointly by the association’s National President, Rev. Fr. JohnBosco Ezehi, and Secretary, Rev. Fr. Vincent Illa.