The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has advised political candidates of different political parties in Nigeria not to deceive the electorates with empty promises while seeking their votes and to ensure that all promises made were kept.
At a press conference held in Abuja on Monday, the Sultan assured Nigerians that nobody or group could make the country an Islamic State, dousing fears that had been built around the consideration of religion before electing any leader.
The Sultan also said that things were not going right in the country because of the attitude of politicians.
He also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections with the fear of God in them.
The INEC had promised that the election that would begin on February 14 would be free, fair and credible, despite challenges in its distribution of Permanent Voters’ Card across the oil rich nation.
It had also said it would achieve between 80 to 85 per cent distribution before the commencement of the election, extending the date of collection to February 8.
As the elections is fast approaching, there are series of political advertisement in the media to sell the candidates. Majority of these political advertisements are attack on personalities of the opposition parties in a bid to win the hearts of the electorates.
There have been calls from the populace for political campaigns to be issue-based rather than mudslinging that had been adopted by most political parties.
The Sultan’s concerns are as a result of complaints that promises made by politicians in the past were not kept, a deceit he stressed should cease.
At the conference, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, also raised concerns over the rights of Internally Displaced Persons.