Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, has wrong idea of politics.
He stated this in response to Shehu’s attack on the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Kukah.
Shehu had attacked Kukah for criticizing Buhari’s administration in his Easter message.
But speaking as a guest on AIT’s breakfast show, Kakaaki, Onaiyekan said:
“With all due respect to whoever is speaking for the Presidency, he has a wrong idea of politics. Maybe, for him, politics has been just a game they play in the middle of the night.
“If you understand politics as to how you organise and manage the community for the common good, we are all supposed to be politicians.
“Does that mean that whenever we (religious leaders) tell the truth and work to make our country better, we should shut up because we are playing politics? No, we refuse. We will continue to talk.
“In the whole project of nation-building and good governance, people have different roles to play. The role of Mr President is, of course, the most important in terms of organising everything. The role of religious leaders, if you are a genuine one, should be to be able to speak in the name of God.
“So, let no one stop Kukah and other religious leaders from speaking from their hearts. They cannot force you (the government) anyways.
“Kukah is not preparing a coup against Buhari. He is only concerned about the people he sees every day. Kukah is speaking for so many who do not have a voice. What we expected from the Presidency was to hear what Kukah had to say and take the issues one-by-one; maybe give explanations, if there is a need for such, and hopefully consider considering his message in its plans.”
Onaiyekan also commented on the joint call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on the Federal Government to grant amnesty to repentant bandits.
He said the call would only be a cosmetic solution to the issue of insecurity in the country and breed more criminals in parts of the country.