Onaiyekan: Catholic bishops assaulting Tinubu by reducing transformation agenda to failure – Presidency
Tinubu’s Adviser Responds to Catholic Bishops’ Critique
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, has criticized Catholic bishops for attempting to characterize the president’s transformational agenda as a narrative of failure.
In a statement shared on X, Dare asserted that such a portrayal represents an unfair attack on Tinubu. He emphasized that the president inherited a struggling economy and is committed to rebuilding the nation from its foundational issues.
Dare’s comments came in response to remarks made by Archbishop Emeritus John Onaiyekan following a meeting with the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. During this visit, Onaiyekan indicated that Tinubu disagreed with the bishops’ assessments regarding the country’s economic and security challenges.
On July 28, 2026, the bishops expressed their concerns about the state of the economy, insecurity, and the political environment during their meeting with Tinubu. Onaiyekan, speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time, noted that the president rejected their evaluation, asserting that his administration was making progress.
In his online statement, Dare defended Tinubu’s leadership: “For the bishops to seek to reduce President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s monumental, multi-sectoral transformation agenda to a narrative of failure is not merely an act of intellectual dishonesty; it is a scathingly uncharitable assault on a patriotic leader.”
Dare argued that to fully understand Tinubu’s achievements, one must consider the dire economic situation Nigeria faced at the time of his inauguration in May 2023. He described the nation as being on the brink of total economic collapse.
