Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, has urged the administration of President Bola Tinubu to improve governance, declaring that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has said all it needed to say on the state of the nation.
Speaking during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, on Monday, Onaiyekan said the bishops were not interested in engaging in a public war of words with government spokespersons following their recent meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
His comments come amid exchanges between the Presidency and the CBCN after the bishops presented their assessment of the country’s economic and security situation during an audience with the President last week.
The cleric dismissed suggestions that the bishops were advancing a Catholic agenda, insisting that their intervention was driven by a moral and spiritual obligation to speak on issues affecting all Nigerians.
“We are done talking. You can govern better. We didn’t go there just as Catholic bishops pushing the Catholic agenda. No. We went there as people who are with the spiritual mandate to speak to anybody in the name of God,” Onaiyekan said.
He added that government supporters and spokespersons were entitled to defend the administration as they deemed fit, noting that the bishops would not be drawn into further arguments.
“That some of the supporters of government and the state and spokesperson may have their own idea about what they think they should be saying on behalf of their principal, is their business, not mine,” he stated.
Onaiyekan also said public reactions to the controversy reflected the views of many Nigerians, stressing that he had no need to respond further.
“As for response to the things we are hearing, I don’t even have to say anything because the social media is full of response from Nigerian people and that for me is more than enough,” he said.
