Presidential media aide Daniel Bwala has criticised comments by Cardinal John Onaiyekan on Nigeria’s economy, arguing that the Catholic cleric was expressing a political opinion rather than speaking on behalf of the entire Christian community.
In a post shared on his X account on Saturday, Bwala maintained that Cardinal Onaiyekan’s views represented the Catholic Church and not all Christians in the country.
According to him, “Cardinal Onaiyekan, wasn’t speaking for Christian’s, he was speaking for Catholics, the very institutions rooting for Peter Obi @PeterObi in fact, likely the institution where Peter Obi also said in 2022 ‘take back your country’. Therefore, Cardinal is more political than spiritual.”
Bwala also argued that support for the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate is not unanimous within the Catholic Church.
“And not all catholic members are supporting peter Obi,” he wrote.
The presidential aide defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s response to recent comments on the state of the economy, insisting that the President was justified in disagreeing with the cleric’s assessment.
“The president @officialABAT 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,” Bwala stated.
He further accused the Cardinal of applying a double standard, claiming that Catholic leaders often encourage members to speak positively despite economic hardship.
“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 added.
Bwala also stressed that there is an umbrella Christian body that includes Catholics and other denominations, arguing that such organisations should remain non-partisan.
“There is a body comprising all Christian’s including the Catholics and catholic bishops conference and that body’s position is neutral and should be so, otherwise it is political,” he wrote.
His remarks come amid ongoing public debate over the country’s economic situation and recent exchanges between government officials and religious leaders over the impact of President Tinubu’s economic policies.