The NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, (BBC)
* Say they spoke truth to power *Urges Tinubu to embrace constructive criticism
By Vincent Ujumadu
The presidential candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, and his running mate for the 2027 election, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, have defended the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, and John Cardinal Onaiyekan for speaking truth to power when they met President Bola Tinubu at Aso Villa in Abuja penultimate Tuesday.
They described the development as the growing intolerance of dissent by the federal government.
Recall that the Presidency had last weekend, launched an attack on Onaiyekan, accusing him of making public what the President discussed with the bishops close-door.
In a statement, titled “When a Government Declares War on the Truth,” Obi warned that attacks on religious leaders who spoke on national challenges could undermine democracy and distract from the country’s pressing problems.
According to him, Nigeria’s worsening economic hardship, insecurity, inflation and unemployment, require sincere engagement with constructive criticism, rather than hostility towards those who raise legitimate concerns.
He observed that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, had never acted as an opposition platform, but had consistently served as the nation’s moral conscience by speaking out on issues affecting the common good under both military and civilian administrations.
Obi noted that the same commitment to truth had been demonstrated by major Islamic and Christian organisations, including Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI; the Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria, SCSN; the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN; and the Nigerian…
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