Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has said he would resign from the All Progressives Congress if President Bola Tinubu ever showed disrespect toward the opposition or the Catholic Church, as he defended the President over a controversy surrounding his meeting with Catholic bishops.
Advertisements
The senator representing Abia North, and a former governor of the state, made the statement on Wednesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid the row triggered by remarks from John Cardinal Onaiyekan over Tinubu’s meeting with Catholic bishops.
Advertisements
“Any day President Tinubu has disrespect for the opposition, or has disrespect for the Catholic Church, I’d resign from the APC. The President can never insult the Catholic bishop, knowing him. The President didn’t say anything that needs apology. If there is anything wrong the Presidency has done, he should apologise,” Kalu said.
He insisted Tinubu had not insulted the Catholic bishops and therefore had nothing to apologise for, describing the President as a longstanding friend of the Church who had done nothing wrong by allowing the bishops to air their concerns openly.
“Tinubu has a good relationship with the Catholic Church. Nothing wrong in what the Catholic bishops said. Tinubu is not an enemy to Catholic bishops, one of their best friends. Tinubu by no means insulted the bishops. I didn’t see it,” he said.
Kalu also argued that Onaiyekan’s comments after the meeting should not be treated as the official position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, noting that the cardinal was not accompanied by other bishops and may have been expressing a personal opinion.
“The discussion the Catholic bishops had with President Tinubu is not personal. They had cameras there, so it’s a public discussion. Onaiyekan did not go with other Catholic bishops. That might be his opinion,” he said.
He pointed out that the official communiqué from the meeting was read by the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, adding that individual cardinals and archbishops were entitled to their own views.
The controversy followed comments by Onaiyekan, who told journalists that the bishops had informed Tinubu that Nigeria was “bleeding” and that citizens were struggling under severe economic hardship. Onaiyekan said Tinubu responded that he disagreed with their assessment of the economy.
Advertisements
