The Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu openly disagreed with concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) during their recent meeting at the State House in Abuja.
The bishops met with President Tinubu on July 28, 2026, where they raised concerns about the state of Nigeria’s economy, insecurity and the country’s political climate.
Speaking on Arise News on Friday, Onaiyekan said the bishops were not surprised by the President’s response, noting that they went into the meeting to present their assessment of the situation in the country rather than seek approval from the government.
“When the nation is bleeding, you cannot expect a polite meeting with the Head of State. We had to let him know. And his reply is that the nation is not bleeding,” Onaiyekan said.
He said the bishops told Tinubu that economic conditions were hurting poor Nigerians, but the President maintained that the economy was performing well.
“We told him the economy is not helping our poor people; he told us the economy is doing fine. Frankly speaking, he told us quite clearly that he did not agree with us,” he added.
According to the cleric, the bishops did not expect the President to necessarily accept their assessment but considered it their responsibility to communicate their concerns.
“We have done our duty, we have delivered our message, and we have a feeling that somehow, along the line, somebody will show him a few of the things we said,” he said.
Onaiyekan also stressed that the statement presented to the President was not the personal opinion of a few bishops but the product of extensive consultations within the CBCN.
He said the document was carefully written, reviewed and amended before being presented to the President.
“The Bishops’ Conference is bigger than the group of us that were there, but it is very representative of the Bishops’ Conference. So it is the Catholic Bishops’ Conference that produced that document,” he said.
The Archbishop Emeritus also dismissed any suggestion that the bishops were motivated by political ambitions, insisting that their role was to speak about issues affecting Nigerians.
“As bishops, we have no ambitions to take Mr Tinubu’s job or anybody else’s job. We are not politicians running for office,” he said.
Onaiyekan said religious leaders had a responsibility to address not only spiritual matters but also the social and economic realities affecting their members and other Nigerians.
He further said he was not surprised that Tinubu appeared unhappy while the bishops delivered their message, noting that the President was accustomed to receiving more favourable assessments from those around him.
“We knew that this is different from the kind of statements that our President keeps receiving from all kinds of people,” he said.
According to him, the bishops deliberately chose to present what they considered the reality of the country rather than give the President a “rosy picture”.
“We felt that we have a duty not to do that. Indeed, we have the obligation to help him appreciate the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves,” he added.
Despite the disagreement, Onaiyekan said the bishops left the meeting satisfied that President Tinubu had listened to their concerns because he responded directly to the issues they raised.
He, however, expressed hope that members of the President’s team would encourage him to reflect on the bishops’ message, particularly because, in his view, not enough people in government were willing to tell the President the truth about the situation in the country.
