The Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Henry Ndukuba, has urged Nigerian youths to resist being used as political thugs by self-serving politicians.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 15th Anglican Chancellors, Registrars, and Legal Officers Conference (ACRLOC) on Tuesday in Abuja, Mr Ndukuba said politicians used the poor and hungry for their ambitions.

He said unscrupulous politicians were using hardship to buy votes and recruit vulnerable youths for violence.

He observed that while many politicians send their own biological children to study abroad, they give drugs and money to underprivileged youths to perpetrate violence during elections.

“We want to plead with our politicians that this is not a do-or-die affair. Let us play politics with a human face and campaign on issues so that when elected, citizens will know what to hold them responsible for,” Mr Ndukuba said.

He said that poverty made people vulnerable to manipulation but insisted that young citizens should resist being cheap tools in the hands of desperate politicians.

“None of these politicians send their own children to carry out violence. Their children are in London, Europe and America.

“What they will not send their own children to do, they are sending our young people to do. Our youths must shun every thuggery and act of violence,” the cleric added.

Mr Ndukuba emphasised that politics impacts every stratum of society, including transport workers, commercial tricycle operators, market women, and religious bodies.

He urged Nigerians, particularly Christians, to register with political parties, participate in internal party democracy, and demand accountability from electoral and security agencies.

The primate expressed optimism that state policing and active citizen engagement would make the upcoming election cycles pivotal in shaping a better future for Nigeria.

During his keynote, Mr Ndukuba provided updates on the Global Anglican Communion (GAC) following the historic G26 conference held in Abuja.

He said the Global Anglican Council marks a constitutional evolution, shifting orthodox Anglicanism from geographical dependencies toward a confessional, scripture-centred global covenant.

Earlier, the Registrar of the Church, Kehinde Ajoni, said the conference was designed to realign church administration with uncompromising moral integrity.

Ms Ajoni charged legal officers across dioceses to act as the lone voice of moral conscience during internal dispute resolutions.

The conference, with the theme “As For Me and My Household, We Will Serve the Lord,” runs from August 3 to August 6.

(NAN)