2027: Don’t be political thugs, Anglican Primate tells Nigerian youths
By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — The Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, on Tuesday urged Nigerian youths not to serve as political thugs ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He also urged Christians to take an active part in politics, saying credible elections would depend on internal democracy within political parties and the commitment of electoral authorities, security agencies and citizens to protecting the integrity of the process.
Ndukuba spoke at the opening of the 15th Anglican Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers Conference (ACRLOC) in Abuja.
Warning young Nigerians, Ndukuba said: “I want to encourage our young people never serve as a thug for any politician because none of those politicians… what they will not send their own children to do, they are sending our young people to do. They give them money for drugs… We want our young people to shun every thuggery and every act of violence.”
The Primate urged Christians across the country to register with political parties and participate in electing their representatives, saying politics shapes every aspect of national life.
He said: “We want to encourage Christians across this country to get registered in any of the political parties and also pick their cards, involve themselves in the election of their representatives in that political party.”
Ndukuba said credible elections would remain difficult without internal democracy in political parties, warning against godfatherism and the influence of money in politics.
According to him: “If there is no justice in the choice of party leaders internally, there is no way we can suddenly wake up and have a credible election. A situation in which there is always a godfather… or politics of the money bags cannot help our nation.”
He also appealed to politicians to campaign on issues rather than violence.
“This is not a do-or-die affair. Let us play politics with a human face… Let it be campaigns of issues so that when you are elected we will know what to hold you responsible for,” he added.
Ndukuba further urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, security agencies and citizens to safeguard the credibility of the electoral process, expressing optimism that state policing would strengthen election security.
Beyond the 2027 elections, Ndukuba said the March 2026 GAFCON G26 conference which held in Abuja marked a turning point for orthodox Anglicanism with the inauguration of the Global Anglican Communion (GAC).
On the outcome of GAFCON G26, he said: “March 6, 2026, will remain an enduring landmark in the history of Anglicanism. The conference issued The Abuja Affirmation, officially inaugurated the Global Anglican Communion (GAC) and executed the mandates of the October 2025 Martyrs’ Day Statement.”
He said the new body had shifted the centre of Anglican authority away from Canterbury, with legitimacy now tied to the Jerusalem Declaration rather than recognition from England.
The keynote address stated: “The GAC effectively stripped the See of Canterbury of its historic monopoly on Anglican identity. Legitimacy is no longer dictated by bureaucratic recognition from England, but by compliance with the global covenant of the Jerusalem Declaration.”
In her address, the Registrar of the Church of Nigeria, Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni, urged church legal officers to uphold integrity and accountability in their service.
Ajoni said: “Exclusive loyalty to God is non-negotiable. We cannot employ deceptive secular legal loopholes, frivolous stall tactics, or intimidation to cover up internal misconduct.”
She urged church legal officers to remain the Church’s moral conscience by choosing honesty, legal compliance and restitution whenever disputes arise.