By Mary Onyia
A fresh war of words has erupted between the Presidency and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) after senior presidential aides criticised the bishops over the blunt message they delivered to President Bola Tinubu on the country’s economic hardship, insecurity, and democratic governance. The disagreement, which followed the bishops’ closed-door meeting with the President, has since drawn widespread reactions from opposition figures and other prominent Nigerians, many of whom accused the Presidency of attacking rather than addressing the issues raised by the clerics.
The controversy deepened after Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, disclosed in a television interview with Arise News that the bishops had deliberately chosen to tell the President “the truth” about the suffering of Nigerians. According to him, the bishops told Tinubu that the economy was hurting ordinary citizens, but the President rejected their assessment and insisted that the country was making progress. Onaiyekan also said many people around the President were presenting him with an overly optimistic picture of the country, adding that the bishops considered it their duty to present the realities facing Nigerians.
The Presidency responded sharply. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described Onaiyekan’s public account of the private meeting as “an abuse of clerical privilege,” arguing that the bishops’ assessment was only one perspective and not beyond scrutiny. Presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala, in his reaction on X, also defended Tinubu’s position, insisting the President was entitled to disagree with the bishops’ conclusions based on available economic data and accusing the cardinal of allowing politics to influence his comments.
The Presidency’s response quickly attracted criticism from several prominent Nigerians. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged the government to address the substance of the bishops’ concerns instead of attacking Cardinal Onaiyekan, saying the role of the Catholic bishops had always been to “speak truth to power.”
Atiku suggested the Presidency’s response reflected a habit of surrounding itself with fake and compliant clerics allegedly used in the lead-up to 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.”
The Northern Christian Association also lent its voice, saying that the Catholic bishops spoke not only on issues affecting the Catholic Church but also on matters concerning Christians and Nigerians generally, insisting that their intervention was in the national interest.
A statement by the Chairman of the Northern Christian Association, Rev. Joseph Hayab, warned against what he described as divisive politics, saying the association would resist any attempt to pit one Christian denomination against another.
“We should tell Bwala to know that Catholics are Christians and Nigerians. Our members are Catholics, Baptists, ECWA, Methodists, Anglicans, Pentecostals, and people of all denominations. We refuse to be divided by Bwala’s politics of division,” Hayab was quoted to have said.
Former Kaduna Senator Shehu Sani similarly faulted the Presidency’s reaction, arguing that constructive criticism from respected religious leaders should be welcomed in a democracy rather than treated as hostility.
In a post on his X handle on Saturday, Shehu Sani, also a public commentator, said the Catholic Bishops had consistently spoken truth to successive governments since the era of military rule.
“From the era of military rule and throughout the period of civilian governments, the Catholic Bishops have a consistent history of telling truth to power,’’ he said.
The exchange has further intensified national debate over the state of the economy and the shrinking space for dissent as political activities ahead of the 2027 elections gather momentum. While the Presidency maintains that its economic reforms are beginning to yield results, the bishops insist they have no political ambition but a moral responsibility to speak for ordinary Nigerians. The latest confrontation underscores the widening gap between the government’s assessment of the country’s progress and the concerns being raised by influential civic and religious voices.
With additional reports from the Vanguard