Ikechukwu Samuel
Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly condemned the Presidency’s attack on the Catholic Church and John Cardinal Onaiyekan, accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration of growing intolerant of dissent and uncomfortable truths.
In a statement released on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency resorted to intimidation and political attacks instead of reflecting on the substance of the cleric’s message.
Catholic bishops had recently engaged with the president, during which he defended his record and the independence of the electoral umpire. However, Cardinal Onaiyekan, in a television interview on Friday, revealed that the bishops told the president the country was “bleeding” and that the economy was worsening the plight of poor citizens.
According to Onaiyekan, Tinubu and his officials present at the meeting were “not looking very happy” with the speech, noting that it was unlike the usual addresses the president listens to.
The Presidency later accused Onaiyekan and the Catholic Church of working for Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi, a claim Atiku dismissed as baseless.
Atiku argued that the Presidency’s response reflected a pattern of surrounding itself with fake and compliant clerics allegedly used during the 2023 general election, contrasting this with the independence of Catholic bishops.
“Perhaps the Presidency has become so accustomed to inviting ‘fake bishops’ that it now assumes every cleric can be recruited into political propaganda. But Catholic bishops are different. They are not political props, rented cheerleaders or praise singers. They are shepherds with a moral obligation to speak truth to power, regardless of whose interests are bruised. They cannot be used,” he said.
The former Vice President praised the Catholic Church for historically serving as a moral voice for the poor and vulnerable, regardless of who occupies Aso Rock, and commended the bishops for confronting President Tinubu directly.
He described the Presidency’s commentary against Cardinal Onaiyekan as arrogant and unbecoming of government, accusing officials of attempting to distort the cleric’s engagement with the president.
Atiku said the Tinubu administration’s media handlers tried to cancel and overwrite the voices of the Catholic bishops by selectively editing and reframing their engagement to manufacture a narrative favourable to the government.
He added that Cardinal Onaiyekan’s decision to speak to the press afterward was simply to place the facts on record.
“A government confident in its record welcomes criticism because it provides an opportunity for reflection and improvement. Only an insecure government wages war against honest voices while rewarding those who tell it only what it wants to hear,” he said.
Atiku stressed that the Cardinal’s comments reflected the daily realities of hunger, insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and the cost-of-living crisis confronting Nigerians, warning that attacking him would not erase those realities.
He demanded that the Presidency apologise to the Catholic Church, Cardinal Onaiyekan, and Catholic faithful nationwide, cautioning that the administration would continue to face accusations of arrogance and intolerance until it did so.
