Cardinal Onaiyekan fires back at Presidency over Tinubu meeting

Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has affirmed that his recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu along with other Catholic bishops clearly showed that the President is bent on winning the 2027 elections at all costs.

He made this known during an interview with Arise Television, which was monitored online by Church Times.

Onaiyekan, who expressed deep worry over the President’s disposition toward elections and his penchant for doing whatever it takes to win, said such an attitude is out of step with democratic principles.

However, according to Onaiyekan, President Tinubu’s response indicated that he is unbothered by these concerns.

The position of Mr. President came out clearly in his statement that in politics, all is fair. If that is what politics is—that anything can be done provided you win an election—when we heard it, we were worried.

While clarifying that the bishops did not expect Tinubu to help the opposition defeat him, Onaiyekan noted:

The point we raised is that even though the President enjoys the power of incumbency, he is a candidate like any other. That is why we call our electoral commission independent—though there are serious fears about how independent it actually is.

Assessing the overall outcome of the meeting, Onaiyekan said he was not surprised that the President appeared unhappy with them.

We knew the meeting would be different from all the flattering statements he routinely receives. That is one of the things that worry us—there are so many people around Tinubu giving him a rosy picture of what is going on in the country, and we felt it was our duty not to do that. Indeed, our obligation is to help him appreciate the enormity of the situation we find ourselves in. That is not the kind of thing he wants to hear.

Onaiyekan said the bishops left the meeting holding