No need to fear over 2023 election - Osinbajo

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has called on Nigerians not to exercise fear or despair over the current challenges rocking the nation as the country prepares for the 2023 elections.

He also expressed hope that Nigeria would overcome the difficulties as the elections and population census would be conducted peacefully without rancour.

Osinbajo, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, expressed these views during the 2022 Service of Nine Lessons and Carols held on Sunday evening at the National Christian Centre in Abuja.

The vice president offered a message of hope and invited people to change the lens through which they view the country’s current predicaments and to always have positive expectations.

He said, “Your theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Fear Not’. This is a very important subject for everyone of us even as we approach 2023 which has been described as a year that Nigeria seems to be at a crossroad. We are approaching the year 2023. Yes, we are going to have elections and we are going to have a census exercise.

“All these issues come with a lot of questions, but we have an assurance from our Lord and Saviour. He will not let our hearts be troubled. We should believe in Him and believe in God.”

The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, in his sermon titled, ‘Lay Down Your Fears’, said that the citizens feel more terrified than at any other time in the nation’s history because of the high level of insecurity and uncertainties within the country’s political economy.

He however charged the people not to allow fear to cause them to speak the language of despair and division ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Okoh said Nigerians should not lose hope and act in ways that would hinder the development and progress of the country.

The CAN president said, “As Nigerians prepare for the general elections in 2023, many people are not sure of the outcome. There are fears that some may resort to violence if the elections do not favour them. It is a period that arsonists have already destroyed election materials in certain places with the mindset to truncate the process of the elections in 2023.



FI