The Presidency has slammed the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, over his criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The Presidency was reacting to the latest remarks credited to the cleric, who is one of the fiercest critics of the current administration.
Kukah had in his Easter message issued on Sunday said the President had destroyed every aspect of life in Nigeria but allowed corruption to thrive and grow.
He also described the country under Buhari as “an emergency hospital deserving of urgent attention.”
However, in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, yesterday, the presidency urged the Catholic Bishop to face his job or join politics.
He also accused Kukah of making baseless accusations against the Buhari administration.
Shehu said: “We respectfully ask Bishop Kukah to leave government to the voters and the politicians they elect, while he concentrates on his job, as it is expressed in James 1:27: ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.’
“Or else, he should put away his clerical garb, join partisan politics and see how far he can go.
“Bishop Kukah chose to use the Easter period, which serves as a period of reflection for Christians, to make dissensions and quarrels about the law. His accusatory list against the government revealed only his hatred for them.
“Still, when he accused them of division, he gave no examples: merely assertions emanating from his own mouth. His allegation of ethnic and regional divide was innuendo without proof, and he gave none.
“His list of things he claims as broken – from churches to mosques to schools and motorways – belies all those that have been built, and others built anew during this government’s time in office.”
