Tunji Abayomi, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), says Nigerians cannot afford to insist on integrity when choosing a president because the challenges facing the country require a sinner to fix them.
Mr. Abayomi, who is the Pro-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo state, he said that poverty is the main challenge facing the country, so citizens should consider who can create wealth and not embark on a holy man search.
He said this during an interview on Sunrise Daily on Channels TV on Tuesday.
According to him, “Only sinful men would lift society from sin because they understand the effect of sin and the consequences,” said lawyer Abayomi.
Some of the presidential candidates in the race have been marred by allegations of corruption.
The ruling APC’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, handed over $460,000 to the US government in a drug-related case in 1992.
On the other hand, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar faces accusations of using Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to siphon money while he was vice president from 1999 to 2007.
PREMIUM TIMES also revealed in an investigation how Peter Obi of the Labor Party used shell companies in tax haven countries to hide his wealth and failed to declare it to the Code of Conduct Office, an act many believe is against the constitution. from 1999.
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Abayomi, a lawyer, said it will be nearly impossible to find a holy man who can address the poverty challenge facing the country.
He postulated that what Nigeria needs is “a man with ancient wisdom, not necessarily a holy man.”
He said: “We are not in heaven, let us appreciate that too. We are in the world, and it would be presumptuous due to the trend of utopian aspiration, but in the end of everything, very little is achieved if we study the history of uprisings in the world.
“But only sinful men will raise the society because the problems of the society are the sins and they understand the value of those sins and the effects. Only sinful men would lift society from sin because they understand the effect of sin and the consequences, the structure of sin and how to deal with it, if you look for holy men, you will not achieve much. Look at the history of the world, that’s just the reality.
“Integrity issues matter. To some extent, the constitution talks about corruption and so on. Obviously, we’ll take care of that. To expect the personal holiness of the candidates, a man who has gone through the structure of life in this nation, a nation in any part of the world, for example, you find that politicians are sinners. For example, you cannot run for office with no money.
“Money is the root of all evil (sic). Someone said that his absence is the basis of all problems. In essence, there will be some kind of balance. There will be a sinner, not a murderer,” he said.
The ruling party came to power on the strength of fighting corruption and changing the way things are. President Muhammadu Buhari was marketed to Nigerians as an anti-corruption retired army general.
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