Bishop Kawas Cries Out: When I Backed Obi, Nobody Called Me Fake—Now I’m ‘Fake’ for Endorsing Tinubu

…Leader of Charismatic Bishops’ Conference tackles ‘Obi-dients’, says he spent his own money campaigning for ex-Anambra governor, never asked for or received N1

By Franklin Adole
The President-General of the Charismatic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Leonard Bature Kawas, has hit back at critics questioning his clerical credentials following his endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term, asking why he was considered a legitimate bishop when he campaigned for Peter Obi but suddenly became “fake” after declaring support for the President.

Kawas, who said he has been a bishop for 25 years and an archbishop for 14, disclosed that he not only supported Obi during the early stages of his presidential ambition but travelled across Nigeria with him, mobilised fellow clergymen and personally financed their participation in campaign activities without receiving a naira from the former Anambra State governor.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Sunday, days after the Charismatic Bishops’ Conference announced its support for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, Kawas said the endorsement had unleashed attacks from some supporters of Obi, who questioned his credentials and suggested that his change of political preference was motivated by money or access.

But the cleric rejected the accusations, insisting that his political interventions had never depended on financial inducement.

“I supported Peter Obi at the initial stage of his presidential ambition and went with him everywhere in Nigeria, and he never gave me $1 or ₦1,” Kawas said.
“Neither did he ever ask me one day, ‘How did I come to the campaign?’”

According to the archbishop, he routinely paid the transport fares of six other clergymen who accompanied him to Obi’s campaign engagements and also took responsibility for his own accommodation and logistics.

“He would just see me at the campaign. We would pray for him. I would pay the transport fares of six clergymen. We would come there and support him. He never asked me, ‘How did I come? Which hotel did I sleep in?’ Yet I did it, and nobody called me fake,” Kawas said.

The cleric then posed the question at the heart of the controversy: why should his ecclesiastical status depend on the presidential candidate he chooses to support?

“Is it now because I have prayed and God has led me that it is Tinubu, that I have suddenly become fake?” he asked.

The Charismatic Bishops’ Conference had on September 9 announced its endorsement of Tinubu for another term during its synod in Abuja, a decision that immediately drew criticism from sections of the opposition and supporters of Obi.

Kawas said the bishops reached their position after considering what they regarded as the Tinubu administration’s efforts to accommodate Christians in important government positions, its relationship with Christian political leaders and what the conference considered attempts to maintain religious balance despite the controversy generated by the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in 2023.

The archbishop maintained that disagreement with the conference’s political position was legitimate but said questioning his status as a Christian cleric merely because of that endorsement was another matter entirely.

“First and foremost, for those who say we are fake bishops, I didn’t just become a bishop today. I’ve been a bishop for 25 years. I’ve been an archbishop for 14 years,” he said.

Kawas also pointed to a long history of political engagement predating both Obi and Tinubu, saying he had at different times supported prominent Nigerian politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Taraba State Governor Jolly Nyame, and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He recalled campaigning for Jonathan and serving on his presidential campaign council, describing himself as “the only bishop in Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign council.”

For Kawas, however, his experience with Obi provides the sharpest response to those now challenging his credentials.

He said the same cleric now being dismissed by some critics as “fake” was welcomed when he travelled around Nigeria praying for Obi, mobilising Christian leaders, and spending his own money to participate in the former governor’s political campaign.