Reno Omokri, on behalf of former President Goodluck
Jonathan’s media office, has written Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, reporting
Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka to leadership of the church.
Recall that Rev. Mbaka had last week asked President
Muhammadu Buhari to resign forthwith or be impeached by the House of
representatives.
In response, the Presidency, through Garba Shehu, a senior
special assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, accused the revered
priest of making the call now because he was refused a contract by Buhari.
The clergyman is yet to directly respond to the allegations
made by the President’s spokesman.
But some of his associates have challenged Garba Shehu to
reply to the priest’s comments on Buhari and the insecurity in Nigeria.
According to them, the allegation of contract request made
by the Presidency against the cleric does not hold water and has nothing to do
with the matters raised.
In a joint statement by Chris Aniagu, Hillary Ugonna, Ugwu
Victoria, among others, Mbaka’s allies said Nigerians are not new to claims
against Mbaka from the corridors of power.
And Omokri, in a copy of the letter he made available on
Sunday, accused the Enugu-based Catholic Priest of having left the calling he
took holy oaths to abide by, to dabble disastrously in politics.
The former presidential aide called on His Holiness, the
Pope, to investigate Rev. Mbaka and take appropriate action against the
minister to ensure that there is discipline within the Church in Nigeria.
The letter he signed on behalf of the media office of the
former President, added, “You may or may not have heard of a certain Reverend
Father Ejike Mbaka, a Catholic priest in Enugu, Nigeria, who has left the
calling he took holy oaths to abide by, to dabble disastrously in politics.
Omokri recalled that between 2015-2016, Mbaka made public
pronouncements (Prophecies) which among them were that God had revealed to him
that He was displeased with then President Goodluck Jonathan.
Omokri also recalled that Mbaka had said that God had
revealed to him that Buhari was the right man to take over as the then next
President of the country.
“He also in the year 2015 made false allegations against Mr.
Jonathan, to the effect that Mr. Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan,
wanted to assassinate him,” Omokri added.
“That I am willing to make an oath on a sworn affidavit that
that allegation is false, and that at the material time when he made that
allegation, I called on Reverend Mbaka to substantiate them with evidentiary
proof, of which he never did.
“That again in 2019, after Nigerians had gone through so
much hardship under the said Major General Buhari, a man of very strong
religious bias, Reverend Mbaka made pronouncements to the effect that Nigerians
should continue with Buhari, after he had publicly humiliated a fellow
Catholic, Peter Obi, on December 3, 2019, for failing to make a public
donation, and called him “stingy” and said “the way you and Atiku are moving
will end in shame.”
“It should be noted that Father Mbaka’s actions go against 2
Corinthians 9:7:
‘Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart
to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’
“And then when Father Mbaka made a volte face on April 29,
2021, asking his former friend, and now President Buhari, to resign, the
President’s spokesmen revealed the next day that Reverend Mbaka had requested
for contracts as pecuniary compensation for his support for Mr. Buhari, and
when this was not acceded to, he went rogue.
“Your Holiness, By virtue of the Public Procurement Act of
2007, it is a criminal offence to demand and get a government contract without
an open public and transparent tender. To legally get a contract in Nigeria,
you must tender publicly, and the government must accept the lowest bid.
Anything short of that is not just criminal, it is also unethical and
unbecoming of a Catholic priest.
“In the opinion of many Nigerians, Reverend Father Mbaka has
brought the Catholic Church into disrepute, and undermined the faith of the
faithful, by his conduct.
“I therefore call on Your Holiness to investigate this
matter, and take proper measures to ensure that there is discipline within the
Catholic Church in Nigeria.”
Among other things, Rev. Mbaka, the Spiritual Director of
Adoration Ministry, Enugu, hinged his call for the impeachment of Buhari on the
high level of insecurity around the country.
According to the cleric and gospel singer, said the
President has failed the citizens woefully, demanding his immediate
resignation.
Addressing his congregants at the Adoration Ground, Mbaka,
who prophesied Buhari’s victory over Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, wondered how
Buhari has maintained grave silence in the face of daily killings, kidnappings
and other unspeakable crimes by herdsmen, bandits, Boko Haram and ‘unknown
gunmen’.
Among various reactions that have greeted Mbaka’s outburst
and Presidency’s response is that of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who at the weekend
described the cleric as a victim use and dump.
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