Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama on Sunday, slammed religious leaders who meddle into the realm of politics as predictors of election victory.

The cleric, who stated these in his Homily delivered at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish, Karu, Abuja, described as attention seekers, religious leaders that claim divine authority in making prophecies about the outcome of political contests, especially during public religious gatherings.

While calling on all political aspirants to look to the Holy Spirit for inspiration, Kaigama said Christians must also pray for a correction of the erroneous understanding among some Nigerians who confuse their imaginations divine messages about politics.

According to him, such predictions are mere “political speculations, projections or rational calculations.”

He said, “These mundane predictions often fall wide off the mark. Those political “prophets” are attention seekers trying to woo gullible people.

“We must invoke the Holy Spirit to help us correct the erroneous understanding among some Christians today who confuse their imaginations, dreams or psychological delusions with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, going on to speak about politics and secular matters with dogmatic certitude; making categorical statements about which party or candidates will win elections.

“Rather than say these are their political speculations, projections or rational calculations they claim divine authority.

“We implore our political aspirants to pay attention not only to their party manifestos, but also to the guidance of the Spirit of God as they vie for political offices.”

The Archbishop decried the bloodshed across the country and stressed the need for citizens to respect the sacredness of life.

He said, “Nigerians must beg the Holy Spirit to teach us to uphold the sacredness of life, especially today as blood is poured like water, people’s freedom and dignity violated by bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and other criminals, who capture people and keep them under inhuman conditions for monetary ransom or kill them outrightly.”