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President Bola Tinubu’s aides have criticised Cardinal John Onaiyekan for publicly discussing a private meeting between him and members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), describing his comments as an “abuse of clerical privilege.”
In a statement on Sunday titled “Cardinal Onaiyekan’s Abuse of Clerical Privilege,” Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, argued that the former Archbishop of Abuja acted inappropriately by granting a television interview in which he offered his account of the closed-door meeting with the President.
“There is something fundamentally inappropriate about Cardinal John Onaiyekan granting a television interview to offer his own account and interpretation of what transpired during the private meeting between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and President Bola Tinubu,” Ajayi said.
“It is, in my view, an abuse of clerical privilege.”
The statement follows Cardinal Onaiyekan’s interview with ARISE News after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria met with President Tinubu.
During the meeting, the bishops raised concerns over the country’s economic conditions, insecurity, governance and the return of mission schools.
Onaiyekan later discussed the President’s responses in a television interview, prompting the Presidency’s rebuttal through Ajayi’s statement.
Ajayi said the bishops had requested the meeting with the President and used the opportunity to raise concerns about Nigeria’s economic hardship, insecurity and other governance issues.
While acknowledging that the clerics had the right to express their views, he argued that their assessment was “a perspective” rather than an unquestionable verdict.
“The bishops were notably acerbic in their submission, but the president listened to them patiently and responded,” he said.
“Their assessment is neither scripture nor an article of faith. It is a perspective, and perspectives can be challenged with facts and evidence.”
According to Ajayi, Tinubu addressed each issue raised by the bishops, including their call for the return of mission schools to their original owners, which he said falls under the constitutional powers of state governments rather than the national government.
Ajayi rejected claims that the President was dismissive of the situation, saying Tinubu recognised the threat while noting gains made by the Armed Forces.
He argued that, as Commander-in-Chief, the President has access to intelligence and operational briefings not available to the public.
The presidential aide also dismissed suggestions that only critics could “speak truth to power,” insisting Tinubu is well-informed through newspapers, television, intelligence reports and other channels.
He added that while the Catholic bishops are “an important constituency,” they are “by no means the exclusive custodians of the national mood or the nation’s conscience.”
Ajayi concluded that the confidentiality of the meeting should have been respected, saying the bishops fulfilled their moral duty by presenting their concerns and the President responded to every issue raised.
“Reciprocity should have dictated that the confidentiality and dignity of that engagement be preserved,” he said, adding that public influence should be exercised with discretion rather than by “converting privileged access into a platform for post-meeting commentary.”
In a separate reaction, another presidential aide, Sunday Dare, also criticised the bishops’ intervention, accusing some church leaders of abandoning the neutrality expected of their offices by venturing into partisan politics.
In a statement, Dare said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) meeting with President Tinubu had been expected to provide “profound spiritual counsel, constructive statesmanship, and puritanical guidance” but instead degenerated into political commentary.
“Every religious leader who chooses to intervene in political debate assumes a delicate responsibility. The moral influence of the clerical office depends upon being seen as independent of every political tendency,” Dare said.
“The moment public interventions begin to resemble partisan commentary, that moral advantage inevitably diminishes.”
He took particular aim at Cardinal John Onaiyekan’s subsequent television interview, arguing that it blurred the line between moral leadership and political advocacy.
“By abandoning the sacred detachment required of their revered offices to act as proxies for opposition political elements, the Prelates delivered a performance that was as superficial as it was banal,” he said.
Dare maintained that religious leaders play an important role in national discourse but argued that their influence rests on remaining above partisan politics.
He also argued that participants in the meeting had a responsibility to present an accurate account of the President’s remarks before offering personal interpretations.
“When you emerge from a room where power has spoken, tell the public what power said before telling them what you believe it meant. That is not asking too much of a Cardinal. It is asking exactly what the cassock demands.”
Defending the administration’s record, Dare said portraying Tinubu’s reforms as a failure ignored the economic circumstances the President inherited on assuming office.
