…Says, it reflected bishops’ position at meeting with Tinubu
The national leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has thrown its weighty behind the Bishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Onaiyekan position over the controversy between the Presidency and the respected cleric.
This followed last week meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Catholic bishops during which discussions focused on the economy, security, governance and the 2027 general elections.
The CBCN pointedly declared its support for Cardinal Onaiyekan, emphasising that his comments on insecurity, governance and the state of the nation clearly reflected the position of the Church.
President of the CBCN, who is also the Archbishop of Kaduna, Most Rev. Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso, said there was no difference between Onaiyekan’s position and that of the bishops’ conference.
Archbishop Ndagoso specifically said that Cardinal Onaiyekan did not deviate from the message of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.
In the words of Ndagoso; “The text of my message is there at the CBCN Secretariat for anyone to see, and I am very sure that if you read it, Onaiyekan’s view is not different from our position”.
During the meeting, both the CBCN and Tinubu expressed divergent views on the state of the economy, electoral reforms and governance as the President declared that; “all is fair in politics,” just as he insisted that hunger existed in Nigeria before he was born, thus he could not be blamed for the country’s rising population.
Tinubu also insisted that his administration had stabilised the economy and that prosperity was on the horizon.
However, at the meeting with President Tinubu which took place at the Presidential Villa, President of the CBCN, Archbishop Ndagoso expressed concerns over security, poor leadership, tertiary education, democratic stability, credible, free and fair elections and poverty.
In his response, President Tinubu said his administration was tackling insecurity through improved intelligence gathering, restructuring of security institutions, enhanced logistics and better welfare for security personnel and called on religious leaders to condemn violence, guide their members and support efforts to defeat terrorism.
According to Tinubu; “The economy has recovered… The spirit of the people is lifting, and the economic turmoil that we feared is cleared. I inherited the assets and liabilities of my predecessor. I have been running with it. This government has stabilised, and there is prosperity on the horizon. Life is improving”.
