The Secretary-General of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Rev. Cornelius Eke, has tasked Nigerians to stop selling their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to politicians.
He urged Nigerians to use their voter cards wisely to install a credible government, to avert living in regret for the next four years.
He made this known through a statement signed and made available to newsmen by the media director, Dr. Joseph Chukwu, in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State.
According to him: “This year’s election is crucial and requires the participation of all registered voters to ensure that the right candidates are elected.”
He advised Nigerians not to sell their voter cards or votes, not to be like Esau in the Bible, who sold his birthright for a paltry pot of porridge and suffered the consequences afterwards.
“Your voters’ card is your birthright and power, use it wisely to install a credible government so that you will not live in regret for the next four years; do not sell it no matter how much the politicians price it”, he charged the congregation.
He counselled church members in Nigeria to participate actively in politics so that credible candidates who would salvage and rescue Nigeria would emerge in the next polls.
On the 2023 Census, the clergyman said it is a milestone in that it would be the first time in more than a decade that the actual population of Nigeria would be known, adding that it would usher in proper planning in all facets of governance.
“If you refuse to be counted, it means you don’t count in Nigeria, so you must present yourself and your family to be counted when the time comes so that you will count in Nigeria,” Rev. Eke admonished.
Rev. Eke noted that the 17-year census data was obsolete and unreliable in national planning, adding that with new census data to emerge later in the year, it would help the government plan with certainty instead of estimations.