The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has rejected the church venue of a meeting called by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lagos Office.
INEC is holding a meeting on Thursday and has the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, as the meeting venue.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in state Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, would attend the meeting.
MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement, expressed disappointment over that, asking “How can INEC pick a religious house as a venue for its meeting? Is the meeting for the Christian wing of INEC or what? Is INEC meeting members of the church? It is unacceptable.
Akintola described INEC’s choice of a church as an insensitive venue for a meeting in view of the “very volatile situation we are in Nigeria today.
He said that “It is an open secret that Christian pastors are deeply involved in political campaigns. Many of them have turned the 2023 election into a straight fight between them and the Muslims.
“INEC Lagos Headquarters has taken a false step. Holding an electoral body’s meeting inside a church is like holding it inside the secretariat of one of the political parties. It erodes confidence. It is totally wrong, particularly in a situation whereby the church has publicly revealed that it is an interested party in the ongoing electioneering exercises.
He said there are hundreds of neutral places all over Lagos, and again questioned INEC if it was promoting the church’s vested interest in the 2023 election. “Is it some kind of connivance in the offing? INEC Lagos headquarters must prove to Lagosians that their votes will count. We call on Lagosians to watch the activities of INEC from now on because we are not convinced that it is going to be neutral,” Akintola said.
He told the INEC Lagos headquarters to steer clear of churches for any of its activities except those meant for church members alone. That same goes for mosques and shrines, adding that the commission has no business using places of worship for their activities.
Akintola tasked the national secretariat of INEC in Abuja to caution its Lagos headquarters.
