{"id":69568,"date":"2025-07-03T12:08:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T12:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=69568"},"modified":"2025-07-03T12:08:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T12:08:48","slug":"catholic-church-demands-urgent-electoral-reform-decries-rising-insecurity-ahead-of-2027-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/07\/03\/catholic-church-demands-urgent-electoral-reform-decries-rising-insecurity-ahead-of-2027-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church Demands Urgent Electoral Reform, Decries Rising Insecurity Ahead of 2027 Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ade Iyamoye<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Catholic Church in Nigeria has raised the alarm over the deteriorating state of the nation, demanding urgent electoral reforms and decisive government action to address the worsening insecurity as the country moves closer to the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n

This call was made by the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), the Church\u2019s social justice organ, at the end of a three-day strategic meeting held at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Durumi, Abuja, from June 24 to 26.<\/p>\n

The meeting brought together Provincial Directors and Secretaries of the JDPC from the nine ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

In a statement released after the meeting, the JDPC described Nigeria\u2019s electoral system as deeply flawed and called for immediate reforms that would guarantee credible elections.<\/p>\n

The Commission insisted on the adoption of real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units, stressing that voters, not the courts should determine electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n

The group also advocated for the conduct of all elections on the same day to boost efficiency and curb the bandwagon effect.<\/p>\n

It called for the appointment of a new leadership at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), consisting of non-partisan individuals of unquestionable character, while urging greater participation of both clergy and laity in the electoral process.<\/p>\n

On the security situation, the Catholic Church described the current wave of killings, kidnappings, and attacks across the country as an undeclared war. It said communities in Benue, Plateau, Imo, Enugu, Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto, Edo, and Katsina states remain under siege, with citizens living in fear and despair.<\/p>\n

The JDPC condemned the government\u2019s inaction and lack of accountability, noting that despite repeated attacks, including the killing of over 200 people in Benue, no perpetrators have been apprehended or prosecuted.<\/p>\n

It reminded the government of its constitutional responsibility to ensure the security and welfare of the people.<\/p>\n

The Commission also called for constitutional amendments ahead of the 2027 elections, proposing that no candidate be sworn into office until all legal disputes concerning their election are resolved.<\/p>\n

It further demanded clarity on the role of the Federal Capital Territory in presidential election results.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the end of the meeting, JDPC National Secretary, Fr Peter Babangida Audu, expressed concern over the growing economic hardship and decline in governance.<\/p>\n

He urged elected officials to serve with integrity and prioritize the welfare of the people.<\/p>\n

Fr Audu also called for intensified voter education, urging citizens not to lose faith in the democratic process.<\/p>\n

He encouraged civil society organisations to move beyond criticism and adopt more strategic and solution-oriented approaches to national issues.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church, through the JDPC, reaffirmed its commitment to promoting justice, peace, and good governance, while calling on the Nigerian government to act urgently to restore hope and stability across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ade Iyamoye The Catholic Church in Nigeria has raised the alarm over the deteriorating state of the nation, demanding urgent electoral reforms and decisive government action to address the worsening insecurity as the country moves closer to the 2027 general elections. This call was made by the Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":69571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-69568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69572,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69568\/revisions\/69572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}