Just in… Presidency Tackles Onaiyekan, Accuses Catholic Cardinal of Abusing Clerical Privilege Over Tinubu Meeting

By Franklin Adole
The Presidency on Saturday launched a sharp rebuttal against Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, accusing him of abusing “clerical privilege” by publicly disclosing and interpreting what transpired during a private meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

The strongly worded response followed Onaiyekan’s appearance on Arise Television, where he revealed that President Tinubu had rejected the bishops’ bleak assessment of the country, insisting that Nigeria was not “bleeding” despite widespread hardship and that his administration’s economic reforms were already yielding positive results.

Speaking during the interview, the respected cleric said the bishops had told the President that millions of Nigerians were grappling with poverty, hunger, unemployment, and worsening insecurity, but that Tinubu disagreed, maintaining that the economy was on the path to recovery.

Onaiyekan also suggested that the President was being shielded from the harsh realities confronting ordinary Nigerians by aides who, according to him, painted an overly optimistic picture of the country. He further questioned the neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arguing that public confidence in the electoral body would remain shaky for as long as its leadership continued to be appointed by the President.

But reacting in a lengthy statement, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, described the Cardinal’s television interview as “fundamentally inappropriate” and an abuse of the privilege accorded the Catholic bishops by the President.

Ajayi argued that the bishops had sought the audience with Tinubu, who granted it in good faith, listened patiently to their concerns and responded comprehensively to every issue raised.

According to him, the meeting ought to have remained confidential.

“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. It is, in my view, an abuse of clerical privilege,” Ajayi said.

The presidential aide rejected the impression created by the Cardinal that Tinubu dismissed the country’s challenges, insisting that the President acknowledged the economic and security difficulties facing Nigerians but argued that the country had made measurable progress and was gradually emerging from years of fiscal and economic decline.

Ajayi said Tinubu responded point-by-point to the bishops’ submissions, citing improvements in fiscal stability, increased revenues accruing to states, more regular payment of salaries and pensions, as well as gains in security operations across various theatres.

He maintained that the President merely disagreed with the bishops’ characterisation of Nigeria as a nation “bleeding,” arguing instead that while significant challenges remained, the administration had laid the foundations for recovery.

The Presidency also faulted Onaiyekan’s suggestion that those around Tinubu were shielding him from reality, insisting that the President receives daily intelligence, economic and security briefings, reads newspapers extensively and engages multiple formal and informal channels to gauge public opinion.

Ajayi said it was erroneous to suggest that only critics or religious leaders could tell the President the truth about the state of the nation.

“What truth does anyone really need to tell President Tinubu that he does not already know?” he asked, adding that the President was constantly confronted with “competing advice, conflicting intelligence, uncomfortable assessments and hard realities.”

On the issue of insecurity, Ajayi argued that while the bishops relied largely on media reports, Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief, had access to classified operational briefings and battlefield intelligence, placing him in a better position to assess the country’s overall security situation.

He stressed that the President never denied the seriousness of the security challenges but only disputed the suggestion that no progress had been made.

The presidential spokesman further said disagreement over facts should not be interpreted as arrogance, insisting that democratic engagement allows every interest group, including the Catholic Church, to express its views while giving the government equal right to present evidence supporting its policies.

Ajayi concluded that while the Catholic bishops had fulfilled what they considered their moral obligation by presenting their concerns to the President, Onaiyekan erred by taking to national television to give his personal account of what he described as a privileged, private engagement.

He said clerical office carried not only influence but also responsibilities, including discretion, restraint and respect for the confidentiality of high-level discussions, warning that privileged access to the President should not be converted into a platform for public post-meeting commentary.