Bwala knocks Onaiyekan, says cardinal spoke for Catholics, not Christians

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala, has faulted Cardinal John Onaiyekan over his comments on the economy and insecurity.

Bwala argued that the cleric spoke only for the Catholic Church and not for Christians as a whole.

Onaiyekan had disclosed that Tinubu rejected the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria’s assessment of the economy and insecurity when the bishops met the President at the State House, Abuja, on July 28, 2026.

The archbishop emeritus said this during an interview on Arise News’ Prime Time programme on Friday.

Reacting on X on Saturday, Bwala said Onaiyekan’s position aligned with institutions he claimed were rooting for the Labour Party’s 2027 presidential hopeful, Peter Obi. He noted that Obi had made his “take back your country” remark in 2022 within Catholic circles.

“Cardinal Onaiyekan wasn’t speaking for Christians, he was speaking for Catholics, the very institutions rooting for Peter Obi, in fact, likely the institution where Peter Obi also said in 2022 ‘take back your country.

“Therefore, Cardinal is more political than spiritual. And not all Catholic members are supporting Peter Obi,” Bwala wrote.

The presidential aide insisted that Tinubu was entitled to disagree with the bishops’ position.

“The President was well within his right to disagree with their assertion as regards Nigeria’s economy based purely on facts, statistics and numbers put into context,” he said.

Bwala also accused the cleric of inconsistency, saying priests who criticised the government’s economic narrative would silence their own members for making similar complaints.

“Ironically, the same priest would rebuke their members if the members said ‘we are suffering or we are poor.’ They would tell them to rather say ‘we are doing great and or we are rich’ even when they are suffering or poor,” he said.

He further argued that a broader body representing all Christians, including Catholics, already existed and that its neutrality was being undermined.

“There is a body comprising all Christians, including the Catholics and Catholic Bishops Conference, and that body’s position is neutral and should be so, otherwise it is political,” Bwala said.

Onaiyekan, during the Arise TV interview, had said Tinubu told the bishops plainly that he did not share their reading of the economy.

He quoted the President as insisting the economy was performing well, contrary to the bishops’ claim that ordinary Nigerians were suffering.

The cleric maintained that the bishops had no political ambition. He said their intervention was rooted in a duty to speak on issues affecting the welfare of Nigerians.

He also defended the bishops’ warning against what they described as a creeping one-party dominant state.

Onaiyekan called for reforms to the Independent National Electoral Commission, arguing that public confidence in its neutrality would remain in doubt as long as the President appointed its leadership.(Punch)