By Osazua Benjamin

Politics in Nigeria or anywhere in the world can never be separated from religion. Religion plays so much role in global politics especially when elections are close.

Religious leaders are regarded as opinion leaders and influencers when it comes to politics because of the huge followings they have and this is why politicians besiege churches and mosques when they are vying for positions because they have realized religious platforms are important factors in politics.

Some, out of sheer ignorance, have said countless times that clerics don’t have any business getting involved in politics, or prophesying about politics but they are quick to forget that in the holy bible, prophets were the electorates, men of God were those who appointed leaders, they were the ones anointing rulers and kings based on God’s instruction

Narrowing this discussion down to Nigeria, There has never been any election, especially presidential that a multitude of clerics don’t talk about. Although, their statements are not always the same it has never happened that an election comes and top clerics wouldn’t have an input. As a country that has two major political parties until the 2023 presidential election, you would see some clerics supporting one candidate while others support another.

Among the active clerics when it comes to politics in Nigeria is Primate Elijah Ayodele of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, who ranks as the most active of them all. He is not only active when it’s time for election but year-in, year-out. He would always prophesy about how a candidate would win, what could be done to stop the victory, how victory could be lost, and what would become of an administration, to mention but a few.

Away from his prophecy about the outcome of an election, This discussion aims to analyze the prophetic advice Primate Ayodele has shared with opposition parties and how well they have done with the warnings from the highly respected prophet.

Taking a cue from the latest election held in Nigeria; the Ondo governorship election which saw the victory of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress and its party, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Just like in previous election prophecies, Primate Ayodele shared prophetic insight for the ruling party and opposition before the election. He has always made it known that God loves everyone equally and when it comes to election, he won’t have a word for the ruling party and neglect the opposition, it would be both ways.

Therefore, in his prophecy regarding the election, He made it known that the ruling party would win the election and that if the opposition wanted to win, they should all come together and form a coalition.

As usual of politicians, the opposition candidates from the PDP, Labour Party, and others failed to listen and instead of coming together, some even collapsed their structures for the ruling party and indeed, it was a landslide victory for the APC.

It would also be recalled that in 2023 before the presidential election, Primate Ayodele called on the two major opposition parties, PDP and Labour Party to form a coalition if they want to defeat APC or stop President Tinubu from winning the election.

He warned severally that there is no opposition that can win an election in Nigeria without forming a strong coalition. He told Atiku and Peter Obi not to be carried away by the noise because if they go into the election separately, they will lose the election.

Unfortunately, they didn’t listen and opposition parties wasted their votes. By calculation, the PDP and Labour Party had more than 12 Million votes while APC had 8 Million but failure to come together made the opposition divide their votes, giving way to APC.

Before the governorship election in Kogi state that produced Usman Ododo as winner, Primate Ayodele had called on opposition parties to form a coalition. He specifically called on Hon. Abejide of the ADC to collapse his ambition for PDP while other parties joined and form a coalition but unfortunately, none of them listened and we all know the outcome of their obstinacy.

This gross neglect of Primate Ayodele’s prophetic advice is alarming and surprising; it’s wonderful that people would spend millions of naira on election and because of their interest, they fail to listen to simple instructions and at the end of the day, waste resources that would take years to recover.

In about three more years, Nigeria would hold another presidential election and already, Primate Ayodele has started singing it to the ears of the opposition parties that they can win only through a strong coalition. In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Primate Ayodele made it known that in 2027, if the opposition don’t unite, APC will win again.

These were his words:

“If PDP, Labour, NNPP don’t unite to form a coalition and propose one rugged and solid candidate for the 2027 presidential election, they won’t be able to unseat President Tinubu.

“It will be a smooth ride for the president in 2027 except there is a strong coalition from the major political parties.”

The opposition parties still have close to three years to prepare and decide their fate. As Primate Ayodele said, if they still decide to go into the election individually, it would be a smooth ride for the ruling party.

A word, they say, is enough for the wise. It is left for the opposition parties to decide their fate.