Wike dismisses Onaiyekan’s criticism, says cleric was partisan in 2023 polls

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has challenged claims that Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has been impartial in his recent comments about President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking during his monthly media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Wike responded to the controversy surrounding remarks made by the respected Catholic cleric following a recent meeting between President Tinubu and members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

According to Wike, Onaiyekan did not maintain neutrality during the 2023 general election, arguing that this should be considered when assessing his latest criticisms of the Federal Government.

The Cardinal had earlier stated in an interview that individuals close to President Tinubu were presenting an overly optimistic picture of the country’s situation.

He also suggested that the President appeared to be concentrating on securing re-election in the 2027 general election.

His comments sparked reactions from the Presidency, which accused him of breaching the confidence of a private meeting by publicly disclosing details of the discussions.

Presidential officials described the action as an abuse of the privilege extended to participants in the closed-door engagement.

Wike argued that religious leaders needed to show more balance in their public commentary, stating that one-sided criticism of government, without any acknowledgement of its achievements, would inevitably be read as political.

“I am aware of the position of Cardinal Onaiyekan; all of us know, it’s not hidden, whom he supports; everybody knows that,” he said.

The minister maintained that while government should not be shielded from criticism, credit should also be given where it was due. “It is not every time you say things are bad; nobody has heard you say government has done this well.

“Commend government when government has done well in certain areas; criticise government and say, look, you have done this well, but you should improve in these other areas”, he stated.

The minister said where a public figure’s interventions were consistently negative, government would rightly conclude the criticism was rooted in opposition rather than objectivity.

Pressed on the claim that the bishops’ position was non-partisan, Wike rejected the argument, pointing to what he described as open political alignment by religious leaders during the last presidential poll. “Don’t tell me they’re not partisan. You know what happened in the 2023 election. People took sides, religious leaders took sides; it was very open.

“I would be stupid to sit here for anybody to tell me this person is impartial. No. We know ourselves in this country; we know who belongs to where. Who did they support in 2023? It was very obvious,” he added.