The presidency has dismissed remarks from Archbishop Emeritus, Catholic Diocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, asserting that President Bola Tinubu is desperate to win a second term bid in 2027 by all means.

Daniel Bwala, spokesperson for the president, flayed Mr Onaiyekan in a post on X, accusing the cleric of taking sides with opposition candidate, Peter Obi, claiming his criticisms of the Tinubu administration lacked any spiritual inspiration.

“Cardinal Onaiyekan, wasn’t speaking for Christians, 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,” Mr Bwala said. “Therefore, Cardinal is more political than spiritual.”

The presidential spokesperson argued that Mr Tinubu “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.”

He added, “There is a body comprising all Christians including the Catholics and catholic bishops conference and that body’s position is neutral and should be so, otherwise it is political.”

Mr Onaiyekan, who appeared on Arise TV on Friday, rebuffed claims of affiliation with any political party, asserting that his duty as a priest is to address the lives of the Christian faithful under the Tinubu administration.

“I think I have an opportunity in this programme to remind Nigerians that, as bishops, we have no ambitions to take Mr Tinubu’s job or anybody else’s job. We are not politicians running for office,” the cleric clarified on television. “We are, first and foremost, religious leaders who feel we have a duty—not just to preach our religious doctrines, but also to address the lives of our people, both those who are our members and those who are not. You can see that from the content and the tone of our statement.”