The Presidency has dismissed comments by Cardinal John Onaiyekan criticising President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the cleric was expressing a personal and political opinion rather than speaking for Christians in Nigeria.
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, made the remarks in a post on his X account on Saturday, August 1, in response to Onaiyekan’s criticism following the recent visit of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to the President.
Onaiyekan had accused the Tinubu administration of being more focused on winning by all means than addressing the country’s challenges. Reacting, Bwala argued that the cardinal was speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church, not the entire Christian community. He also claimed the Catholic institution largely supported Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi during the 2023 presidential election.
According to Bwala, the cardinal’s remarks were political rather than spiritual and did not reflect the views of all Catholics. He said: “Cardinal Onaiyekan, wasn’t speaking for Christian’s, he was speaking for Catholics, the very institutions rooting for Peter Obi @PeterObi infact likely the institution where Peter Obi also said in 2022 ‘take back your country’.” He added: “Therefore, Cardinal is more political than spiritual. And not all catholic members are supporting peter Obi.”
Bwala also defended President Tinubu’s response to the bishops’ assessment of the economy, saying the President was entitled to disagree based on available data. He tweeted: “The president @officialABAT was well within his right to disagree with their assertion as regards Nigeria’s economy based purely on facts, stats and numbers factored into context.”
He further accused the cleric of applying a different standard to members of the church. He said: “Ironically, the same priest would rebuke their members if the members said ‘we are suffering or we are poor’ they would tell them to rather say ‘we are doing great and or we are rich even when they are suffering or poor’.”
Bwala maintained that there is a broader Christian body representing various denominations, including the Catholic Church and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and argued that such bodies should remain politically neutral. He said:
“There is a body comprising all Christian’s including the Catholics and catholic bishops conference and that body’s position is neutral and should be so, otherwise it is political.”
