By Omeiza Ajayi

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has said the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, was not neutral during the 2023 general election, dismissing suggestions that the cleric’s recent criticisms of the Presidency were impartial.

Wike spoke on Tuesday at his monthly media parley monitored in Abuja, while reacting to the storm that followed Onaiyekan’s remarks after a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

The Cardinal had said in an interview that those around Tinubu were painting a “rosy picture” of the country for him, and that the President appeared focused on winning a second term in 2027. The Presidency had faulted him for making details of the closed-door meeting public, calling it an abuse of privilege.

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.