Presidency rebukes Catholic bishops after Onaiyekan’s outburst

The Nigerian Presidency has strongly rebuked representatives of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for their conduct during a recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu, asserting that the clerics do not hold a monopoly on truth regarding the nation's affairs. Presidential aides Temitope Ajayi and Daniel Bwala defended President Tinubu's response to the bishops' criticisms, arguing that their assessment of the country's economic, security, and governance situation reflects a singular viewpoint open to challenge.

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Let me say first and foremost that that statement read by our president was not just put together at random. It was carefully considered and with wide consultation. The Bishops’ Conference is bigger than the group of us that were there, but it is very representative of the Bishops’ Conference.

Furthermore, the Presidency found fault with Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, for revealing details of the closed-door meeting. His comments, made during an Arise Television interview, were described as inappropriate and a breach of the confidentiality expected in such high-level discussions. The meeting between the President and the bishops' delegation took place at the Presidential Villa on July 28.

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So, it is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference that produced that document. It was written, rewritten and corrected. So it was not done at random, nor did we deliver it with levity.

Cardinal Onaiyekan, however, stood by the bishops' position, explaining that the statement presented to the President was not arbitrary but the result of extensive consultation and deliberation within the conference. He stressed that the document represented the collective view of the bishops and was prepared with great care.

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I think I have an opportunity in this programme to remind Nigerians that, as bishops, we have no ambitions to take Mr Tinubu’s job or anybody else’s job. We are not politicians running for office.

He further emphasized that the bishops are motivated by a moral obligation to address the suffering of Nigerians and have no political ambitions. Onaiyekan stated that as religious leaders, their duty extends beyond preaching doctrine to engaging with the realities of people's lives, justifying the tone and content of their statement.

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We are, first and foremost, religious leaders who feel we have a duty, not just to preach our religious doctrines, but also to address the lives of our people, both those who are our members and those who are not. You can see that from the content and the tone of our statement.