Respect Catholic Bishops, stop attacking Christians – Amaechi tells Tinubu

Former Minister of Transportation and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of disrespecting the Catholic Church and the Christian faith, urging the Presidency to stop what he described as attacks on senior Catholic leaders.

Amaechi made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television while reacting to the controversy surrounding recent comments by Catholic bishops after their meeting with President Tinubu.

According to him, the bishops were justified in drawing the President’s attention to the worsening economic hardship in the country and concerns over the credibility of future elections.

He said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues affecting Nigerians, including the state of the economy, governance and the need for assurances that the 2027 general election would be free and fair.

“The reason the bishops went to the President was to discuss the hardship in the country, the state of the nation and issues of concern, including how fair INEC would be. What the President needs to do is reassure Nigerians that all political parties will slug it out in the field and that the election will be free and fair,” he said.

Amaechi criticised the Presidency’s reaction to the bishops’ comments, arguing that once journalists and television cameras were invited into the meeting, the discussions inevitably became matters of public interest.

“Every public meeting with the President is public. The moment you allow cameras into the office, it is no longer private. If the President wanted a private meeting, there would be no cameras and no journalists,” he stated.

He maintained that the subsequent criticism of Catholic leaders by government officials amounted to an attack on the Catholic Church itself.

“What the President and his men are doing is insulting my faith. They are insulting the Catholic Church,” he said.

The former Rivers State governor stressed that senior Catholic clerics, particularly cardinals, deserve respect because of their positions within the Church.

“A cardinal is somebody who could have been Pope or someone who votes for Popes. When you insult a cardinal, you are insulting about 35 million Catholics. You look at me in my faith and say I don’t mean anything. My Church means nothing. My God means nothing to you,” Amaechi added.

Rejecting suggestions that the bishops were motivated by politics, he insisted that their interventions were driven solely by concern for Nigerians facing economic hardship, poverty and corruption.

Speaking specifically on Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Amaechi described him as a cleric whose primary concern has always been the welfare of Nigerians.

“He supports nobody. I’ve had several conversations with him. The only thing that pains him is the level of poverty, hardship and corruption in the country. He worries about Nigerians,” he said.

Amaechi also defended the right of religious leaders to speak out on governance, noting that the Catholic Church has a long-standing tradition of addressing social and political issues whenever the welfare of citizens is threatened.

“Religious leaders should criticise government. The Pope speaks on global issues, including wars. The Church has a responsibility to speak when people are suffering,” he said.

He recalled that the Catholic Church also criticised the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari over insecurity, but said the government at the time refrained from attacking church leaders.

“When the Catholic Church came after Buhari, I was in Buhari’s government. We all kept quiet and looked at what we should do. We did not insult the bishops,” Amaechi stated.

He appealed to the Tinubu administration to avoid statements capable of deepening religious tensions in the country and instead accord Christian leaders the respect they deserve.

“They should leave the Catholic Church alone. They should respect God, respect the Christian faith and respect our bishops. That is why I came out, despite mourning my mother, to appeal to the government to stop insulting Christians and the Catholic Church,” he said.

Amaechi added that he was intentionally staying away from partisan political engagements for now, explaining that he would return to political issues after completing the mourning period for his late mother.

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