Onaiyekan had in October 2022 vowed not to vote for a presidential candidate running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 general elections.
The All Progressives Congress’ Campaign Council Spokesperson, Festus Keyamo, has described the comment of the Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, His Eminence, Cardinal John Onaiyekan against the May 29 swearing in of the “President-elect”, Bola Tinubu, as an embarrassment to the body of Christ.
Onaiyekan had in October 2022 vowed not to vote for a presidential candidate running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 general elections.
The cleric, who spoke at the 1st synod of the Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, held in Ede, Osun State, had said though he had one vote, it would not go to any candidate running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
This automatically ruled out Tinubu and Shettima.
Also, speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Onaiyekan kicked against the swearing in of Bola Tinubu before the conclusion of the election tribunal.
Onaiyekan who said Nigeria’s electioneering system ought to be reviewed, noted that swearing in APC’s Tinubu was an anomaly since his (Tinubu) victory is being challenged in court by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
However, Keyamo, who is also Minister of State, Labour and Employment, reacting to Onaiyekan’s comment in a statement posted via his Twitter handle asked the Archbishop to consider stepping back from the deep and murky waters of politics and desist from descending into the arena of political conflicts.
He said; “Dear daddy Onaiyekan, you know we all respect you a lot, but your political comments are becoming unstatesmanlike.
“A statesman who doubles as a Man of God should strive to be fair to all. You didn’t say the same thing when Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari were all sworn in as Presidents when their cases were still before the courts.
"You have chosen to single out this President- Elect @officialABAT this time around because the candidate you and your other religious brethren openly supported lost the election and you all feel humiliated and embarrassed.
"All issues raised against the victory of @officialABAT in court now (whether it is 25% votes in FCT or the fake drug issue, etc), are not different from issues raised against previous Presidents-elect because basically the complaints have always been that the declared victor did not win the election fair and square or was not qualified to contest the election. No disqualifying issue against a candidate can be greater than other disqualifying issues since a single issue can decide a case against a President-elect.
“So, why all the fuse now? It has always been our electoral template since 1999 for the declared winners to be sworn into office in order TO AVOID A VACUUM and not to foist an unconstitutional contraption on the system whilst the cases are in court.
“My dear daddy, may I respectfully advise that going forward, you and your brethren may consider stepping back from the deep and murky waters of politics and desist from descending into the arena of political conflicts where your children in your congregations find themselves on different sides of political divides, so it would be unfair to them for you to openly take sides.
“The embarrassment to the body of Christ is getting too much and no politician is worth dragging this dignified body into unnecessary political controversy. Is this too much to ask, Daddy?”