The Presidency has criticised Cardinal John Onaiyekan over his public comments on the recent private meeting between President Bola Tinubu and members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), describing the cleric’s television interview as an “abuse of clerical privilege.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tomitope Ajayi, said it was inappropriate for one of the participants in the closed-door meeting to publicly offer his personal account of the discussions shortly after the engagement.
Ajayi said the bishops had requested the audience with President Tinubu and were given the opportunity to present their concerns about the country’s economic, social and security challenges.
According to him, while the bishops acknowledged the benefits of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), they were largely critical of the administration’s performance in other areas.
He said President Tinubu listened patiently to the bishops’ submissions and responded to each issue raised, arguing that their assessment of the country’s condition was incomplete and did not fully reflect progress recorded by the administration.
On the bishops’ call for the return of mission schools to their original owners, Ajayi said the President reminded them that the matter falls within the constitutional responsibility of state governments, adding that he had returned mission schools during his tenure as governor of Lagos State.
The presidential aide said Tinubu acknowledged that Nigeria continued to face significant economic and security challenges but maintained that the country had emerged from “a dark tunnel” and that his administration had laid the foundation for recovery.
Ajayi defended the administration’s economic reforms, saying they had helped avert a fiscal crisis and restored greater financial stability across many states.
He said the improved fiscal position had enabled many state governments to resume more regular payment of salaries and pensions to civil servants and retirees, describing this as evidence of progress despite prevailing economic hardship.
Responding to the bishops’ concerns about insecurity, Ajayi said the President did not deny the seriousness of the situation but highlighted operational gains made by the Armed Forces and intelligence agencies across different theatres of operation.
“As Commander-in-Chief, he receives operational briefings, intelligence assessments, and battlefield reports unavailable to the general public,” Ajayi said, adding that this gave the President a broader perspective on the country’s security situation than was available through media reports alone.
The presidential spokesman also rejected the suggestion that President Tinubu was isolated from public opinion or required religious leaders to inform him of the country’s realities.
According to him, the President regularly reads newspapers, watches television programmes, receives daily intelligence and policy briefings, and engages with people from different sectors of society.
Ajayi said the meeting between the President and the bishops reflected healthy democratic engagement, but argued that its confidentiality should have been respected by all participants.
“Reciprocity should have dictated that the confidentiality and dignity of that engagement be preserved. As such, it was inappropriate for one of the participants to emerge almost immediately on national television to provide his own version of what was essentially a private conversation with the president,” he said.
He added that holders of clerical office should exercise public influence with discretion, particularly when dealing with matters of state, stressing that privileged access should not be used as a platform for post-meeting public commentary.
