Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has affirmed that his recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu along with other Catholic bishops clearly showed that the President is bent on winning the 2027 elections at all costs.
He made this known during an interview with Arise Television, which was monitored online by Church Times.
Onaiyekan, who expressed deep worry over the President’s disposition toward elections and his penchant for doing whatever it takes to win, said such an attitude is out of step with democratic principles.
He noted that the bishops presented two major concerns to President Tinubu: first, that a situation where the country is teetering toward a one-party state presents bad optics; and second, that there is an urgent need to reform the nation’s electoral system to prevent future hitches.
However, according to Onaiyekan, President Tinubu’s response indicated that he is unbothered by these concerns.
”The position of Mr. President came out clearly in his statement that in politics, all is fair,” Onaiyekan said. “If that is what politics is—that anything can be done provided you win an election—when we heard it, we were worried. We see clearly that our government is bent on winning elections by all means.”
He expressed concern about President Tinubu’s apparent desperation to remain in power, adding that the administration has the full machinery of state at its disposal to ensure his re-election. “They are deploying all those means in a way that even if we have a free and fair election, the votes of the people will not count,” he said.
While clarifying that the bishops did not expect Tinubu to help the opposition defeat him, Onaiyekan noted: “The point we raised is that even though the President enjoys the power of incumbency, he is a candidate like any other. That is why we call our electoral commission independent—though there are serious fears about how independent it actually is.”
Assessing the overall outcome of the meeting, Onaiyekan said he was not surprised that the President appeared unhappy with them.
”We knew the meeting would be different from all the flattering statements he routinely receives,” Onaiyekan said. “That is one of the things that worry us—there are so many people around Tinubu giving him a rosy picture of what is going on in the country, and we felt it was our duty not to do that. Indeed, our obligation is to help him appreciate the enormity of the situation we find ourselves in. That is not the kind of thing he wants to hear.”
Onaiyekan said the bishops left the meeting holding firm to their position, while the President maintained his. “We left that hall with both sides knowing we had said what we needed to say.”
He added: “When the nation is bleeding, you cannot expect a polite meeting with the Head of State. We needed to let him know that. His reply was that the nation is not bleeding. We told him our economy is not helping poor people; he told us the economy is doing fine. He told us quite frankly that he did not agree with us.”
The Catholic cleric took solace in the fact that they were able to deliver their message directly to the President, expressing hope that “somehow along the line, someone will make him understand the things we said.”