Tinubu Aide: Cardinal Onaiyekan Spoke for Catholics, Not All Christians

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Policy Communication, has asserted that Cardinal John Onaiyekan spoke solely for Catholics and not the broader Christian community in his recent commentary on Nigeria's national condition. Bwala's remarks came in response to controversy following an interview by the Cardinal after a meeting between the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria and President Tinubu.

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Cardinal Onaiyekan wasn’t speaking for Christians; he was speaking for Catholics, the very institution rooting for Peter Obi. In fact, likely the institution where Peter Obi also said in 2022, ‘Take back your country.’ Therefore, Cardinal is more political than spiritual.

Bwala accused the Catholic institution of showing support for the Labour Party's presidential candidate, Peter Obi, during the 2023 general election. He suggested that the Cardinal's critical comments should be viewed through this political lens, implying a bias. "Cardinal Onaiyekan wasn’t speaking for Christians; he was speaking for Catholics, the very institution rooting for Peter Obi," Bwala stated, adding that the Cardinal was "more political than spiritual."

The presidential aide further clarified that not all Catholic faithful aligned with Obi's candidacy and stressed that the Cardinal's views did not represent the entire church membership. Bwala defended President Tinubu's right to disagree with the bishops' assessment of Nigeria's economic situation, asserting that the President's response was based on "facts, statistics and data."

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The President was well within his right to disagree with their assertion as regards Nigeria’s economy based purely on facts, statistics and numbers put into context.

Bwala also criticized what he perceived as a contradiction in some religious teachings, where clerics encourage positive outlooks despite personal hardships. He emphasized the existence of a diverse Christian body, including Catholics, whose collective position should remain neutral rather than becoming a political platform. "There is a body comprising all Christians, including the Catholics and Catholic Bishops Conference, and that body’s position is neutral and should be so; otherwise, it is political," he concluded.

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There is a body comprising all Christians, including the Catholics and Catholic Bishops Conference, and that body’s position is neutral and should be so; otherwise, it is political.