Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has clarified his recent comments about Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, saying his response was not intended to disrespect the Catholic cleric or the church.
Ajayi made the clarification during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, following criticism over his earlier reaction to Onaiyekan’s public account of a closed-door meeting between President Tinubu and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
The controversy followed an interview in which Onaiyekan discussed the meeting and recounted some of the exchanges between the President and the bishops on issues affecting the country.
The bishops, led by CBCN President Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso, had met with Tinubu to raise concerns over insecurity, tertiary education, democracy, credible elections and the rising level of poverty in the country.
Following Onaiyekan’s public disclosure of details from the meeting, Ajayi had described the decision to publicly discuss the private encounter as “an abuse of clerical privilege.”
However, speaking on Thursday, the presidential aide said the issue had now been resolved and should not be allowed to generate further controversy.
“Well, I think that episode has been closed. Cardinal Onaiyekan is a respected clergy and a statement in his own right,” Ajayi said.
He stressed that his earlier response was not directed at the cardinal’s position within the Catholic Church or his standing in Nigerian society.
“My response to him did not in any way disrespect him or disrespect his standing in the society and the church. He’s one of the leaders of the faith,” Ajayi said.
According to him, his intention was simply to provide another interpretation of the issues surrounding the meeting rather than engage the respected cleric in a personal dispute.
“I only tried to provide a different perspective from his own account of the bishop’s encounter with the president, and I think that point has been made,” he explained.
The clarification appears aimed at drawing a line under the disagreement, which had attracted public attention amid ongoing national discussions about the government’s handling of the economy, insecurity and other challenges facing Nigerians.
Ajayi further indicated that he had no intention of prolonging the matter, urging that the disagreement should no longer dominate public discourse.
“And I think it’s not something we really want to dwell further on,” he said.
The development comes against the backdrop of increasing public scrutiny of the Tinubu administration and growing engagement between the government and religious leaders over Nigeria’s economic and social challenges.
While Onaiyekan’s comments generated debate about the confidentiality of discussions between the President and religious leaders, Ajayi’s latest remarks suggest that the Presidency considers the matter settled
