Politics and prayer: New insights from the Electoral Tribunal of the Governorate of Osun 2022

Politics and prayer are conjoined twins, whether in the global north or the global south. However, the forced marriage of the two elements in the course of gaining power differs between the two global classifications of nations. There are also some differences in how the sentence is used in relation to the political game, particularly during elections and festive periods.

From Ghana, a country in West Africa, to China, an emerging superpower in the global south, citizens are being called to participate in prayer sessions to end turbulent times and improve development. This is also true for Nigeria, Kenya and other countries in the world. There is a National Prayer Breakfast in the United States of America, a Washington tradition that asks political combatants to put aside their differences for one morning. The UK, like the US, has a Prayer Breakfast, an annual prayer session at the start of Parliament’s business.

In Africa, our analyst points out that the call to prayer is usually initiated by politicians, religious leaders and people who have certain traditional authorities in their respective domains. Our analyst specifically highlights the trajectory of the prayer offering, which includes new year celebrations, religious festivals, before the election campaign, before being sworn in, before beginning the administration, after winning elections, being in court, court appeals and the supreme court to recover lost ballots. However, according to our analyst, politicians rarely call members of their political parties to prayer after losing an electoral battle, which could be interpreted as a form of gratitude for what God has done for them.

While politicians often view religious leaders and citizens as subjects of their prayer offering speech, religious leaders also view politicians and individuals whose actions have the potential to destabilize peace and progress as subjects. In this regard, our analyst points out that there is a struggle for prayer offerings. Aside from the establishment of the prayer offering struggle through issue selection, our analyst notes that, as evidenced by the recent call to prayer from the Congress of All Progressives and the subsequent backlash from the ruling People’s Democratic Party in Osun State, Nigeria differs from the other global north countries mentioned above where such a practice was not discovered at the time of writing.

The party leadership uses a one-way strategic organized persuasive communication, according to the analysis of the statement made by the president of the state APC. Part of the statement read: “It was necessary for the party to resort to pleas after having done everything legally permitted in court for the recovery of the mandate stolen from former Governor Gboyega Oyetola in the gubernatorial election of July 16, 2022.” The President also urges members to pray for the state for the speedy restoration of its lost and waning glory among the community of other states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Closer examination of the statement reveals that the party’s one-way strategic organized persuasive communication is intertwined with coerced consent. Since some members may not participate in fasting and prayer, our analyst believes that issuing the statement to all members rather than key members who have benefited from the party over the years indicates coercion.

The president’s view that the state has lost and is losing its glory compelled members to exercise their “freedom to act”. However, one of the elements of misleading consent within organized persuasive communication is the inability to categorically state areas or sectors where the state’s fortunes have been waning. According to our analyst, the president successfully used a combination of black and white message construction.

An examination of the reaction of the PDP president reveals an appeal to the APC, its members and God. In other words, the ruling party (PDP) sees the APC and its members as the subjects of its reaction narrative. “If APC is populated by true men of faith with spiritual capacity (deceived consent) to discern the wave and the efficacy of fasting and prayers, would have accepted their fate imposed God and man on them and they moved on with their lives (consent deceived), instead of asking God to count himself after saying yes to the prayers of the good people of Osun State, with Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke winning as state governor. The case of APC as things are in the state of Osun is like the law of nature promulgated by God himself where; It is established for men that they die only once, and after this judgment.”