Onaiyekan Mentions What Tinubu Did When Catholic Bishops Told Him About the State of Nation
- Cardinal Onaiyekan revealed that President Tinubu directly pushed back on concerns the Catholic bishops raised during their July 28 meeting at the State House
- The Archbishop Emeritus said Tinubu appeared visibly unhappy during the meeting and warned that too few people around the President were willing to tell him the truth
- Onaiyekan also raised concerns about INEC's independence and weighed in on the upcoming Osun governorship election and the National Peace Committee
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John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Abuja, has said President Bola Tinubu made it "quite clearly" known that he rejected the concerns the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) raised during their meeting at the State House in Abuja on Tueday, July 28.
Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Friday, July 31, Onaiyekan said the President told the delegation the economy was doing fine and that the country was not in the state the bishops had described.
Source: UGC
"When the nation is bleeding, you cannot expect a polite meeting with the Head of State. We had to let him know. And his reply is that the nation is not bleeding. We told him the economy is not helping our poor people; he told us the economy is doing fine. Frankly speaking, he told us quite clearly that he did not agree with us," Onaiyekan said.
The cardinal added that the bishops were not taken aback by Tinubu's response. He said they expected the President to disagree but felt it was their duty to deliver the message regardless.
Bishops speak truth, not politics
Onaiyekan was firm that the CBCN statement was not drawn up carelessly. He said it went through rounds of review and represented the collective position of the full conference, not just those present at the meeting.
"It was written, rewritten, and corrected. So it was not done at random, nor did we deliver it with levity," he said.
He also addressed concerns about the bishops' motives, saying the delegation had no political interests and was not acting for any party.
"We have no ambitions to take Mr. Tinubu's job or anybody else's job. We are not politicians running for office. We are, first and foremost, religious leaders who feel we have a duty—not just to preach our religious doctrines, but also to address the lives of our people," he said.
Onaiyekan said he noticed that Tinubu did not look happy during the meeting, and suggested that the President was hearing a very different message from what he usually receives from those around him.
"There are so many people hanging around Mr. President, giving him a rosy picture of what the country is, which it is not," he said.
He added that one of the bishops' core concerns was that honest voices inside government were too few.
INEC cannot be independent under current system
On the question of electoral integrity, Onaiyekan rejected the President's assertion at the meeting that the Independent National Electoral Commission is neutral.
He argued that INEC's credibility would remain in doubt for as long as its leadership was appointed by the President himself.
"The chairman, all the members, and all the commissioners have been appointed by the President. Until we find a system where the membership of the electoral commission is put together not by Mr. President, but by a truly independent entity, that would remove the doubts," he said.
He also spoke about the Osun state governorship election and the National Peace Committee, noting that the Osun governor raised sharp complaints at the peace accord signing, alleging that members of his party were being arrested and targeted.
Onaiyekan closed by expressing confidence that the bishops' message would not be ignored, saying the delegation had given voice to many Nigerians who had no way of reaching the President directly.
Tinubu advised to pull out from 2027 presidential race
Previously, Legit.ng reported that the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) publicly called on President Bola Tinubu to rule out a second-term bid in the 2027 elections, arguing that his government has fallen far short of expectations on security, the economy, and the welfare of ordinary Nigerians.
As reported by The Cable on Friday, July 31, the position was contained in a communiqué dated July 9 and signed by NCEF national chairman Samuel Gani, who said the federal government's handling of critical national issues had been "hugely sub-optimal".
Source: Legit.ng
